Man who raped maid, molested woman while on bail jailed, caned
SINGAPORE — After some beer, he asked his domestic helper to give him a massage.
While the maid was following his instructions, the 43-year-old Chinese national pulled her onto the bed and raped her.
The married man was sentenced to 11-and-a-half years and five weeks’ jail and nine strokes of the cane on Monday (23 March) after he pleaded guilty to one count of raping the Myanmar domestic helper in February 2018, and a count of molest involving another victim which he committed while out on bail. The businessman, who is a Singapore Permanent Resident, is now divorced from his wife.
Another two counts, involving sexually assaulting the maid and kicking another woman’s buttock, were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Ahead of his plea on Monday, the man’s lawyer Sunil Sudheesan applied for a gag order on his client’s behalf, stating that his client’s son was suicidal. Justice See Kee Oon then granted the gag order on the man’s name.
The court heard that the 32-year-old domestic helper had been working for the family - her first employers - since July 2017. She stayed with the man, his wife, their son and two other tenants.
On 22 February 2018, at about 3pm, the victim and the man were alone in the unit and the latter drank alone in the master bedroom. He called the maid into the master bedroom and told her to massage him.
The domestic helper complied and massaged his legs while the man lay on the bed. After a period, the man sat up and asked for a massage on his shoulders and upper back. He then lay down and asked for a collar-bone massage.
Without warning, he pulled the maid onto the bed and held her down. He sexually assaulted her before raping her.
After the act, the victim fled to her room and locked the door. She used her mobile phone to call a friend, another helper from Myanmar, and sought help to contact the police.
The man followed her and asked her to leave the room but she refused. He later left his unit at about 4pm. Police officers were despatched to the unit and arrested the man the next morning.
While on bail, the man molested a British woman at Chinatown MRT station.
On 14 May last year, the 38-year-old woman alighted from the train at Chinatown MRT station and travelled on the ascending escalator when the man stood behind her. The woman felt a brush on her left elbow several times and moved her elbow.
The man then reached under her skirt and touched her thighs near her buttock.
Shocked, the woman immediately turned around. The man talked to her but the woman could not understand him. She went to the MRT control station to report the incident. The station staff called the police on the same day at about 12.40pm.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Gregory Gan asked for 12 years, five weeks and 10 strokes of the cane for the man, whom he said had ruthlessly exploited the domestic helper.
DPP Gan pointed out that the man had entered a “belated plea of guilt” as trial dates had been taken before he decided to plead guilty.
Mitigating for his client, Sunil said that the man was in a business dispute with his partner and was stressed before the offence.
“He acted impulsively and foolishly, he concedes that the maid’s life has been changed as a result of this act and he is fully sorry for this and accepts responsibility for his actions....(He) is very sorry, this incident which occurred has totally destroyed his life, his wife has left him and his son is not in the best of state,” said the lawyer.
“But he appreciates that this pales in comparison to what has happened to the main victim in this case, please temper the sentence,” he added.
Sunil asked for 10 years and two weeks’ jail and six strokes of the cane.
Justice See said that while he accepted that the man had expressed remorse and pleaded guilty, the man’s remorse was not apparent after he was first charged.
“He went on to reoffend while on court bail pursuant to which bail was revoked. I accept that he is a first offender who has pleaded guilty albeit not at early (stage) and weight must still be given to his (guilty plea).But it would be considerably less weight compared to an accused who has made it clear form the beginning that he intend to plead guilty.”
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