Adding salt to the wound.
Apr 22, 2010
Raped at 7 years old
By Koh Hui Theng <!-- by line -->
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Rape victim Ms Lin Ai Ling's life story was aired on a show, New Beginnings. -- PHOTO: SIN CHEW DAILY
SHE was raped thrice, the first time when she was only seven years old. Her attackers were her brother's friends. <!-- story content : start -->Then it happened again, this time at the hands of a stranger in a park. When she became pregnant, the then 13-year-old used an iron rod to get rid of the foetus because she 'did not know what else to do'. But on Monday night, she was able to face the cameras and talk about her ordeal.
Ms Lin Ai Ling's life story was aired on the MediaCorp show, New Beginnings, hosted by celebrity Quan Yifeng. During the hour-long show, the 35-year-old also revealed her third rape - by her father's good friend - whom she married at 18. She eventually divorced him, citing physical abuse. Senior counseller at Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre, Mr Charles Lee, applauded Ms Lin after watching the programme.
'For her to talk about what happened shows that she has moved on. 'It's extraordinary and must have taken a lot of courage on her part - hopefully, this will give others the strength to come out and seek help too,' he told straitstimes.com today. The counseller, who has 18 years experience and worked with two rape victims in the 1990s, added that rape victims are likely to suffer low self-esteem, develop personality disorders, encounter relationship difficulties and different perceptions of sexuality.
Some may even turn to drug abuse to block out their anguish. Ms Lin suffers from depression. The show's executive producer said Ms Lin and her husband, Liu Guo Cheng, 38, had called MediaCorp's hotline. Malaysian Chinese daily Sin Chew Daily said the unemployed couple are facing financial difficulties. Ms Lin, who cried during parts of the show, had told Mr Liu about her background before their marriage registration. She was happy that despite her troubled past, he still wanted to marry her.
