Man who raped woman after failing to rob her jailed 17 years, caned 24 strokes
A man who raped a woman in a back alley of Serangoon Gardens after she foiled his attempt to rob her was jailed 17 years and given 24 strokes of the cane on Monday (30 October).
Singaporean Kelvin Singh, 25, was convicted of two charges of aggravated sexual assault by penetration and one charge of aggravated rape in August this year after he pleaded guilty to raping the woman on 13 January last year. Four other charges – attempted robbery, abduction, aggravated outrage of modesty and criminal intimidation – were taken into consideration for the sentence.
The prosecution called for at least 18 years’ jail and the maximum 12 strokes of the cane on each charge to be imposed on Singh while Singh’s lawyers sought 16 years’ jail and 24 strokes of cane for him.
The incident occurred after midnight on 12 January last year when the victim, a 42-year-old cleaner from China, was walking home. The woman was taking a back alley route when Singh, who was on his bicycle, decided to rob her. Armed with a Swiss army knife, Singh followed her into the back alley.
He later alighted from his bicycle and ran towards her with a knife in hand. However, when the victim saw him, she threw her handbag, containing about $800, over the fence into the compound of a private house. When Singh pointed his knife at the victim, demanding for her money, the victim gestured at the private house and said she had “no money”.
Furious, Singh decided to have sex with the victim. He brought her to a dark secluded area where he forced her to perform oral sex on him twice and raped her – all while threatening to hurt her with his knife.
After the act, Singh warned her not to tell the police about the incident by making a slitting gesture with his thumb across his neck before cycling off on his bicycle. The victim, who had her handphone in a paper bag with her, called her boyfriend who then informed the police.
Singh was captured by police three days later after he was spotted cycling around Tavistock Avenue Park by a member of the public.
On Monday, the prosecution cited an Institute of Mental Health report which stated that Singh was at “a considerable risk of committing similar serious sexual or violence offences in future”.
The report added that Singh, who has a past history of conduct disorder, borderline intelligence, and narcissistic personality traits, did not seem to show genuine remorse for his actions and seemed to regret more that he would be punished.
Singh has a history of past offences dating back to 2007. He was convicted of assault in 2010 and was later sentenced to reformative training in 2012 after a string of offences including rioting, criminal intimidation, and voluntarily causing hurt.
Singh’s lawyers, pro bono lawyers Khadijah Yasin and Sadhana Rai from the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, said that Singh had not known of his psychiatric issues at the time of the offences.
For each charge of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated rape, Singh could have been jailed between eight and 20 years and caned 12 strokes.
