Man on trial for trespass, impersonating cop and sexually assaulting maid
SINGAPORE — After a bout of drinking, an intoxicated man trespassed into a flat, impersonated a police officer, and sexually assaulted the domestic helper who was doing chores in her room.
The 32-year-old Indonesian did not comply with Mark Kalaivanan Tamilarasan’s demands to hand over her passport, work permit and money. She then went through the harrowing experience of being groped and violated by the man.
This was the prosecution’s case on the opening day of Mark’s trial on Thursday (9 January). The 40-year-old Singaporean is contesting four charges, including molesting and sexually assaulting the maid, trespassing into the flat and impersonating a police officer on the afternoon of 15 July 2017.
Four charges related to impersonating an immigration officer, possessing five obscene films and two others without valid certificates, were stood down and will be dealt with at a later stage.
The victim’s name cannot be revealed due to a gag order imposed by the court.
‘Harrowing ordeal’
Opening the case, Deputy Public Prosecutors Tan Yen Seow, Chew Xin Ying and Wong Kok Weng argued that the victim was sexually violated in a place that was supposed to be her sanctuary, by a man she had never seen before, while her employer’s bedridden mother was in the next room.
“After a drinking session with friends, the accused, intoxicated, trespassed into the flat through the unlocked front door,” said DPP Chew.
After creeping into the woman’s room and startling her, Mark “brazenly lied that he was a police officer”, and demanded that she hand over her passport, work permit, and money.
When she failed to comply, he told her to face the wall and raise her hands, stated the prosector.
He then allegedly grabbed her breast and touched her right thigh. He threatened to beat her up when the maid resisted his advances and begged him to stop.
DPP Chew said that Mark dragged the maid to the kitchen toilet, with the victim shouting for help and crying “tolong, tolong!” (Malay for ‘help, help’) Threatening to punch the maid, Mark then made her sit down on the toilet bowl. He ordered her to close her eyes and forced her to perform oral sex.
He then allegedly demanded that the woman remove her pants, but she refused.
The woman later heard footsteps outside the toilet and fled.
“Her harrowing ordeal came to an end when she saw two police officer inside the flat near the front door and ran towards them screaming for help,” said DPP Chew. Mark emerged shortly after, naked and holding his clothes in his hand. He was then arrested.
The maid’s earlier cries had attracted the attention of her neighbours living in the flat above, and they had called the police, according to the prosecution.
Victim’s DNA found on Kalaivanan’s genitals
The prosecution said that it would call 14 witnesses for the trial, with the victim testifying first. “The victim will testify about the torment she suffered at the accused’s hands, from the moment he appeared out of nowhere while she was ironing, to her tremendous relief when she laid eyes on the police officers,” stated the prosecution.
Her neighbours, including another domestic helper, will testify to hearing her cries for help, while police officers will attest to the maid’s distress as she sought help from them. Body-worn camera footage recording her screams for help will also be adduced in court.
The prosecution will also be referring to forensic tests by the Health Sciences Authority that found the maid’s DNA on Mark’s genitals. The victim’s DNA was also found on the man’s underwear and his right hand.
A significant amount of alcohol was discovered in Mark’s blood and urine samples, stated the prosecution.
While the defence will not be denying the sexual act, it will argue that the act was consensual, with the maid leading Mark to the flat where she willingly became intimate with him. The prosecution intends to rebut this defence by adducing CCTV footage which shows Mark taking the lift to the victim’s flat by himself from the ground floor of the block at around 3.26pm.
The trial continues on Thursday.
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