Father on trial for rape says daughter initiated sex

SINGAPORE: A man on trial for raping his daughter twice in a day testified on Monday (Nov 18) that his 23-year-old daughter had initiated sexual intercourse because "she was feeling horny".

The 52-year-old man took the stand for the first time to contest nine charges including aggravated rape, sexual assault and criminal intimidation.

He is accused of raping his older daughter at knifepoint twice in the early hours of Mar 27, 2016, after they both drank alcohol together at home.

While he admitted to the sexual intercourse, he denied threatening her with a penknife.

Both parties cannot be identified because of gag orders issued by the court.

The court heard that the victim was purportedly "a chronic alcoholic" and a drug user whose marriage in 2014 lasted for "just a matter of weeks".

Asked about his relationship with the victim in the weeks before the incident, the man said through an interpreter: "We were loving and she will talk to me openly, and she will 'sayang' (dote on) me a lot."

"She will place her hand on my head, she will kiss me on my cheeks and she will also massage me," said the man.

"I did not think much about it, she's my daughter and I did not have any ill intentions," he said.

The accused also said that his daughter confided in him about her marriage and how her husband had "assaulted and injured" her on multiple occasions.

"I told her that the husband she had chosen is not right, because he has tattoos all over his body, he's a gangster and he's unemployed."

DAUGHTER WAS "FEELING HORNY"

He testified that on Mar 25, 2016, two days before the proceeded charges of rape took place, his older daughter had said "she was feeling horny" and initiated sex with him.

"I stopped her at the beginning ... I told her we shouldn't do such a thing," said the man.

"When she hugged and kissed me, I felt very lost, I did not know why she was doing this and she said she felt horny, she said she can't control herself and she said there's no one at home and told me to do it and make her happy."

Asked by his defence counsel why he did not stop her, the man said: "I never raise my hand and hit her, I was very loving towards her. Even if she scolds me, I will just think, it's ok, she's my daughter and I will just give in. I'm that sort of person."

After the incident, he told the victim to have a bath, and he also showered. 

"After this incident took place, she placed her hands on top of my head and she made a promise, and she also made a promise on Lord Shiva, a Hindu god ... that she will not tell anyone of what had happened and likewise I must not tell anyone of what has happened and I also nodded."

He said that after the incident, he went to work even though it was Good Friday, and received a message from the victim saying: "Apa, don't worry ok, go and eat, don't think so much."

However, he testified he was unable to get his mind off the incident and made multiple mistakes at work.

"I've made a mistake, both of us have had sex," said the man. "She can forget and forgive about the incident, but for me, I'm not able to forget about the incident, it's still on my mind, and it keeps on making me feel guilty."

He said he was not able to eat or sleep.

"The incident keeps on replaying itself, and making me feel like a madman."

HIS DAUGHTERS' ALLEGED DRUG USE

He claimed the victim drank seven to eight cans of beer daily, and when he told her to stop, she said her hands would shake.

He also testified that the victim's friends were drug addicts and that both the victim and his youngest daughter were drug users.

Both daughters would take drugs in the toilet, for at least two hours at a time, he claimed, adding that he had found heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis in the toilet.

"I told them that if they are not going to reform, I will join with them and start taking drugs together with them," said the man. "Even then, they did not stop and I did not know any other way to tell them."

He said he gave the victim S$50 or S$100 daily. He would follow her to see what she used the money on and found that she had bought heroin from a man.

After this, he "took action" by taking meth himself, explaining that he did so because his daughters did not stop taking drugs and he did not wish to report them to the police.

"If the police were to come and catch them and bring them away, I would not be able to stay in that house. So because of that I started taking ice," he said.

"When I took the drugs, (the victim) came to know of it. Her plan was to report me to the police and send me inside (to jail)."

He did a stint in a drug rehabilitation centre.

When he came out, he had nowhere to go so he stayed with his daughter and ex-wife in a flat, while the youngest daughter was sent to a home.

The victim asked her father to forgive her and hugged him, telling him that she was not working and that she ate only if she had the money to.

"Whatever it is, she's my own blood, and I said I will take care," said the man.

Defence lawyer Lau Wen Jin, who was appointed by the Law Society to represent the accused under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS), said in his opening statement that there were "unanswered questions" in the prosecution's case.

"After the sexual intercourse (the victim) did not seek help from people around her when she went down to buy cigarettes and beer, and she did not make an escape," he said.

"Clearly there is a lot of dissonance in the prosecution's case and many unanswered questions."

The trial resumes in the afternoon with the accused on the stand.

The penalty for aggravated rape is a jail term of between eight and 20 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane. However, as the man is above 50, he cannot be caned.