Trial begins for man who allegedly raped daughter 8 times at Punggol home
A man who allegedly raped his biological daughter eight times at their family home in Punggol contested the charges against him in court on Monday (4 September).
The 34-year-old technician, who cannot be named to protect his daughter’s identity, faces two charges of raping his then 14-year-old daughter, between November 2014 and January 2015.
According to the prosecution’s opening statement, however, the girl claims to have been raped eight times in total over the same period. The girl, now 17, has two younger siblings aged nine and 11.
The alleged offences – which were said to have taken place on 19 November 2014 and 9 January 2015 – came to light after the girl confided in her then-boyfriend, who arranged a meeting for her with their school counsellor. The counsellor then reported the matter to the police and the Ministry of Social and Family Development. On both occasions, the girl’s mother was not home although her siblings were present at the time.
Opening its case, the prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor Winston Man, said that around the evening of 19 November 2014, the girl’s father forced his way into the locked common toilet where she was changing. Ignoring his daughter’s protest, he forced her to turn around and then raped her for several minutes. Her mother was out at work at the time. After the act, he warned his daughter not to tell anyone what he had done.
The second incident occurred between 9 and 10 January 2015. The girl’s mother was out at a mahjong session while her two younger siblings were in the master bedroom. The girl was about to enter the master bedroom to get her mobile phone when her father allegedly grabbed her from behind and brought her to her bedroom.
He checked that the door to the master bedroom was closed, with her siblings still inside, before pushing the girl onto the bed and covering her face with a blanket. After raping her, he then cleaned her with toilet paper, instructed her to wash up and left the room.
According to the DPP, the man’s semen was found on a pair of shorts the girl was wearing at the time of the second incident. The girl told two friends about the alleged rape.
Confided in then boyfriend
One of her confidantes was a boy whom she had been dating for a few weeks in January 2015. The boy, who attended the same secondary school as her, took the stand on Monday to testify that the girl first told him about her father raping her on 9 January 2015, the same day of the second incident.
Just days before, she had asked him if he would still like her if she was not a virgin, said the boy. He had replied then that he liked her for who she is. It was just before morning assembly on 9 January when the girl told him about what had happened while crying, said the boy, who cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity.
The boy urged the girl to make a police report or to speak to the school counsellor but the girl was reluctant as she did not want to cause any conflict between her parents. Several days later, the boy made an appointment with the school counsellor and brought the girl there.
“I made an appointment with (the school counsellor) because I know it’s a serious matter and it is not good for it to drag on,” he said.
It was during the meeting with the counsellor that he found out that she had allegedly been raped eight times. “I found it terrifying that her father could rape her so many times,” said the boy.
The prosecution said that it intends to adduce 19 witnesses for the case, including a friend of the girl and the school counsellor.
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