SINGAPORE: Another surprise was sprung in the prison sexual abuse case currently being heard in the High Court.

At the end of Friday's hearing, two of the three attackers – Iryan Abdul Karim, 21, and Muhammad Hamdan Abdul Rahman, 20 – told Justice Tay Yong Kwang that they had been beaten by prison guards two days before their statements were taken.

It is not known when the alleged beatings took place.

So were the beatings related to their respective statements, asked the judge?

Iryan and Hamdan did not reply.

The prison guards – who took the stand on Friday to provide their accounts of the alleged sexual assault which took place last year – were, however, not given the opportunity to respond to the allegations.

This is because the six officers had already stepped down from the witness stand after giving evidence.

Earlier, prison guard Mr Mohamad Muhayaddin Sapari said he did not spot anything usual about the victim during the period in question.

However, the victim, described as "talkative", had told the guard that he had been fighting with his cell mates, but did not make any mention of being forced to perform sexual acts.

Another prison officer, Mr Jamalluddin Abdul Aziz, said he had inspected the cell on May 5 and saw no "visible injuries" on the 22-year-old victim. He also had no "problems standing".

Iryan and Hamdan, along with Mohammed Zameen Abdul Latiff, 22, have been charged with sexually abusing the victim over an eight-day period last year, resulting in multiple rib fractures, a lung infection and injuries to his liver and kidneys.

On Thursday, prosecution witness Lutfi Subagio created a stir when he claimed that the victim himself had demanded oral sex from him on two occasions. The trial continues on Monday.


- TODAY/so