Teen carried unconscious woman into hotel toilet, where she was raped by 20-year-old man

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Mar 20, 2023

After a drinking session, a 19-year-old male warehouse assistant carried an unconscious woman into a toilet and a 20-year-old man then raped her.

All three people were colleagues at the time and the two men cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity.

The teenager admitted on Monday that he had abetted by intentionally aiding the man in committing rape.

Court documents did not disclose the outcome of the 20-year-old man’s case.

The trio were part of eight people who had gathered in a room at Hotel Royal in Newton Road amid the Covid-19 pandemic on Nov 28, 2021.

The group then shared eight bottles of liquor among them, but the teenager did not drink.

A hotel concierge later called the room to tell them that they were in breach of Covid-19 regulations and three people had to leave before midnight. Two people left soon after.

The prosecution said that the victim felt tipsy in the wee hours of Nov 29 and nodded off after downing a last shot of liquor.

The 20-year-old man was lying next to her on a bed in the darkened room soon after when he felt aroused.

The teenager, who was nearby, then carried the unconscious woman into the toilet and left her there. The 20-year-old man entered the toilet and raped her.

Deputy public prosecutors Lee Zu Zhao and Tan Jing Min stated in court documents that the victim was unconscious and unresponsive throughout her ordeal.

The prosecutors did not state what the other people in the hotel room were doing at the time.

After committing the offence, the 20-year-old man dressed the woman, carried her out of the toilet, placed her on the bed and went to sleep.

When he woke up, he told the teenager, and another guest – a 20-year-old woman – about what he had done.

The trio then agreed that they would tell the victim that she had purportedly woken up and followed the 20-year-old man into the toilet by herself.

The victim woke up later that morning on Nov 29 and suspected she had been raped after feeling some pain while using the toilet.

The group left the room, and later that day, the 20-year-old man apologised to the victim via messaging platform Telegram, stating that he had taken advantage of her.

He also lied, claiming that she got out of bed and followed him to the toilet. The woman then expressed her doubts over his version of events.

She resigned from her job soon after and alerted the police on Dec 3, 2021.

On Monday, the court called for a report to assess the teenage offender’s suitability for reformative training.

Offenders given reformative training are detained in a centre to follow a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.

The case has been adjourned to April 17.