Man broke into female neighbour's unit twice, hid under her bed then molested her
SINGAPORE — A man who hid under a neighbour's bed while she walked out of the shower naked, and later sexually assaulted her when she was sleeping was jailed one year, two months, and two weeks on Tuesday (10 August).
Muhammad Rafie Rasid, 34, also broke into another person’s house with a bag belonging to food delivery platform foodpanda to steal luxury watches. In that incident, the homeowner saw Rafie, who then fled.
Rafie pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of molest and two counts of housebreaking. A charge of breaking into the same victim's house intending to molest her was taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The 32-year-old female victim cannot be named to protect her identity.
On 21 March last year, the man entered his neighbour’s home through the front door, which had been left ajar. He entered the unit with the intent of annoying her, according to the prosecution.
Rafie then hid under the bed in the unit and waited. The victim, unaware of the intruder, continued her own activities. She then took a shower and walked out of the shower naked before lying on her bed to play with her handphone.
Rafie later left the unit though it is unclear how he managed to do so without attracting the woman’s attention.
Later that day, at around 6pm, Rafie re-entered the unit illegally. The woman was asleep on her bed at the time. Rafie then removed his pants and underwear, and kissed the victim.
The victim turned to face the wall upon feeling the kiss. Rafie then lay beside her and molested her over her shorts and blanket for about five seconds. The victim woke up at that point, and elbowed and kicked the man.
The victim shouted at him to go away and Rafie apologised before leaving.
After he was charged for the offence and placed on bail, Rafie was recruited by a friend to break into a flat in Woodlands and steal several luxury watches. He was promised $10,000 upon the completion of the offence.
One of the masterminds, Mohamed Shameer Mohamed Feroz, who knew the victim, monitored the victim’s house and found that the victim would be reporting for reservist duty on 18 January this year. He provided a hand-drawn layout of the victim’s flat, the room location, and items for stealing to Rafie and other co-accused. He also stole the victim’s keys from his workplace and duplicated them.
On 18 January, the victim reported for reservist duty, but was sent back home as he had a cough. He returned home at 9.30am and remained in his room. Rafie and a co-accused Muhammad Aidil Rusnin, 32, went to the victim’s house. The pair then climbed the stairs and entered the flat using the duplicate keys.
Two other co-accused, Muhammad Sufyan Mohamad Roslan, 21, and Muhammad Razli Rasid, 33, went to the void deck of an opposite block to act as lookouts.
The two men who broke into the flat were about to enter the room of the victim when they saw him. The victim noticed the two intruders, who fled without stealing anything.
The victim called the police at about 11.02am, saying, “I was at home inside my room alone and my house door was locked. Suddenly a guy carrying a foodpanda bag came inside my room. I shouted at him and he ran off. He ran down from the lift lobby staircase. This just happened two to three minutes ago. I am checking in my house CCTV. No tampering mark or forced entry.”
Of the other co-accused persons, Shameer has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven months’ jail in May. The cases involving Sufyan and Razli are still pending. The status of Aidil’s case is unclear.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ronald Ang told the court that Rafie had been dealt with for a string of offences, mostly involving property, since 2001.
He was given jail time jail for robbery with hurt in 2006, snatch theft in 2010 and theft and voluntarily causing hurt in 2016.
House-breaking carries a jail term of up to three years, and/or a fine. Molest carries a jail term of up to two years, or a fine, or caning, or any combination of the penalties.
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