Jail, caning for man who molested niece
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — He was her uncle and she was closer to him than to her own parents, but he betrayed her trust when he molested her while they were alone at his home one day.
For outrage of modesty of a person below the age of 14, the man was on Monday (May 22) sentenced to 21 months in jail and four strokes of the cane after a five-day trial.
The girl, now 16, and her uncle, aged 45, cannot be identified due to a court order. He intends to appeal against the conviction and sentence.
The court heard that the man, who is married with no children, had on the afternoon of Feb 10, 2014, invited his niece over to his house and later touched her private parts.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sruthi Boppana said that there was some degree of premeditation involved: “The accused made a concerted effort to remove the victim from her mother’s care and (take) her to his house where he would be alone with her.”
He had “no qualms satisfying his sexual desires by preying on her”, she said, adding that “the contact was direct, skin on skin, and with little regard for the fact that the victim had rejected (his) request to touch her (inappropriately)”.
DPP Sruthi added that it was the “abuse of position of trust” by the uncle that was the “most egregious” aggravating factor.
“The accused was someone the victim deemed to be a confidante, a parental figure and someone she felt closer to than her own parents... (He) was in the highest position of trust vis-a-vis the victim, second only to that of a parent,” she said.
The girl still bears the effects of the molest, the prosecution said, pointing to testimonies in court which revealed that the girl had even contemplated suicide.
Her father also said that the incident had “entirely altered (her) path in life, for the worse”.
Asking for a 12-month jail term for his client, defence lawyer N Kanagavijayan said that it was a “one-off offence and (it) did not take place over a period of time”.
Mr Kanagavijayan also said that while his client was jailed before on a drug-related offence, “it is not related to the present offence”.
The man did not “sexually groom” his niece, he added, saying that uncle and niece had not spoken about sexual acts before.
In mitigation, he also put forth to the court that his client had been involved in many charitable works.
The man is now out on a S$25,000 bail, pending his appeal.
For aggravated molest of a person under 14, he could have been jailed up to five years and caned.
