Father-daughter sex abuse case: New witness corroborates accused's claim of 'deformed' penis

SINGAPORE: New evidence presented before the High Court on Tuesday (Oct 2) for a sexual assault case saw a witness describe the accused's genitalia as a "round doorknob", a claim that corroborates the accused's defence in his trial.

The 44-year-old man was convicted last year of 10 charges for repeatedly abusing his daughter over more than two years, when she was between 11 and 13 years old.

He was sentenced to 23-and-half years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for offences including sodomy, penile-oral penetration and criminal force on a minor to outrage her modesty.

After the sentencing, the accused - who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter - appealed against his conviction and the case was referred back to the trial judge by the Court of Appeal.

On Tuesday, the High Court heard the evidence submitted in an affidavit by the accused's friend, Mr Muhammad Ridzwan Idris.

Mr Ridzwan said in his affidavit that he had seen the accused's penis at a urinal in a toilet at the Singapore Expo in 2013. They had sold snacks there together over a four-day period, the court heard.

According to his affidavit, Mr Ridzwan said the accused's genitalia "looked like a round doorknob" and "did not look normal".

The affidavit corroborates the accused's defence that he could not have sexually assaulted his daughter because his penis had became "deformed", "swollen" and would sometimes ooze pus after his third penis enlargement procedure in 2009.

ACCUSED LOOKED FOR WITNESSES TO GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY: PROSECUTION

In his statement, Mr Ridzwan said he met up with the accused in February this year, who told him "that his daughter had complained that he had raped her". 

The accused also allegedly told Mr Ridzwan that he had another friend who was initially willing to be a witness for his defence, but later backed out.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang charged that the accused was "making it all up".

She asked the accused why he did not tell Mr Ridzwan about the allegations he faced, or the hair gel and olive oil he used as lubricant to sodomise his daughter.

"I did not tell him because it did not happen," the accused answered through a Malay interpreter.

"I put it to you that post your conviction, you went around asking for witnesses to testify falsely to the state of your penis as being deformed at the time of the offence," charged Ms Phang.

"I suggest that you provided some financial motivation to such friends to testify on your behalf," she said.

The accused disagreed.

A photograph of the accused's deformed genitalia, alongside sketches made by Mr Ridzwan were presented to the accused in court. The prosecution said that the images were so similar that it was "incredible".

Turning to the 2013 incident described by Mr Ridzwan in his affidavit, Ms Phang said to the accused: "You were very embarrassed about your penis."

"Yes, because the shape is ugly. It's not the normal form," the accused answered.

"So would you agree, that being conscious of that, you would have taken steps to be discreet if you were urinating in a public toilet?" Ms Phang said.

"For us males, when we urinate, we will just focus on ourselves and not look at others," the accused replied.

Ms Phang charged that the accused's penis did not "in any way" look like a round doorknob in 2013, as per the drawings produced by Mr Ridzwan.

His daughter and now ex-wife had previously testified that his penis looked normal.

FIRST WITNESS BACKED OUT BECAUSE OF HIS WIFE: ACCUSED

The accused's first intended witness, Mr Mohamed Alwan, also claimed to have seen his deformed genitalia, but backed out of filing an affidavit.

Asked about this on Tuesday, the accused said that Mr Alwan had backed out after his wife threatened to divorce him if he gave testimony on the accused's behalf.

The prosecution said it was incredible that the accused managed to find two witnesses who had seen his deformed penis within a month after he was convicted, when he had not been able to find any friends to testify before that.

The trial resumes on Wednesday, with Mr Ridzwan expected to take the stand.

After the new evidence is taken, the matter will be sent back to the Court of Appeal for a determination of the pending appeal.