Jealous man beat up and raped 17-year-old mother of his child for hugging, holding hands with male friend

Selina Lum
The Straits Times
July 19, 2023

After the teenage mother of his child broke up with him, a 21-year-old man became jealous when he saw the 17-year-old hugging and holding hands with a male friend.

He forced her into his car, repeatedly assaulted her, and then raped her after parking the vehicle at a secluded spot.

On Wednesday, the man, now 23, was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and six strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to six charges relating to the attack on June 1, 2021.

They comprise one charge for rape, three for causing hurt, one for wrongful confinement and one for threatening to distribute intimate recordings of the victim. Six other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim, who is now 20.

The couple began living together in 2015. The following year, the victim, who was then 13, gave birth to their child. The child is now seven.

On May 19, 2021, the victim initiated a break-up and moved out of their home. The man, a project manager, became emotional over this.

In the early hours of June 1, 2021, the man found out that the victim was at a playground in Bukit Panjang and went to look for her. From a nearby carpark, he saw her hugging and holding hands with a mutual male friend.

At about 3am, the accused chased the friend away and snatched the victim’s phone from her.

He repeatedly asked her for the password to unlock her phone, and when she refused, he lifted her off her feet, threw her to the ground, and repeatedly punched her in the face and head.

He pulled her to the third-storey ledge of a multi-storey carpark and threatened to throw her over if she did not give him the password. He then led her to another carpark and ordered her to get into his car.

As he drove towards Lim Chu Kang, he kept punching and slapping the victim until she eventually gave him her password.

He became even more enraged when he went through the messages on her phone and saw that she had been chatting with other men.

He parked in a secluded road, told her he would disfigure her and stabbed her thigh with a screwdriver. He then recorded videos of her performing sexual acts and raped her.

He then drove off while continuing to go through the victim’s phone.

When his mother called him, he admitted to her that he had hit the victim. After driving around and interrogating the victim about the men she had met, he eventually drove home.

There, the victim told the man’s mother that he had raped her and had taken a video of her. The mother later told the victim that the man had deleted the videos and apologised for his actions.

After the girl returned to her mother’s home, her stepfather called the police to report that she had been beaten up. The man was subsequently arrested.

The victim sought medical treatment at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and was referred to the medical social work department.

In her victim impact statement taken in July 2022, she said she was “very emotional and upset” when she thought about the incident. Prosecutors told the court on Wednesday that she has since moved on.

Deputy Public Prosecutors April Phang and Sivanathan Jheevanesh sought between 13 and 14½ years’ jail and six stroke of the cane, arguing that the man had subjected the victim to a traumatic and prolonged ordeal of physical attacks which culminated “in the ignominy of sexual violence”.

Defence counsel Ramesh Tiwary submitted a letter pleading for leniency from the victim, who said she has forgiven the man.