Man, 26, gets jail, caning for rape and other sexual offences
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SINGAPORE — In an ordeal that lasted around three hours, a woman was raped by a man on their first meeting, two years after they got to know each other through social media.
On Tuesday (June 13) in the High Court, Yap Jun Cheng, 26, was sentenced to 14 years’ jail and 22 strokes of the cane, after admitting to one charge each of aggravated outrage of modesty, rape and sexual assault.
Yap got to know the woman — who cannot be named on court order — through Facebook in 2011, but had not met her in person before.
The court heard that she was a resident of Sabah, Malaysia, and they had arranged for her to come to Singapore on March 4, 2013.
She was looking for a job and accommodation here, and was also going to view a room that was available for rental.
Yap, who was 22 then and serving National Service, met the woman, then 20, at Paya Lebar that day. He told her he needed to go home to wash up and change out of his uniform, so she followed him back to Tampines.
Yap’s grandmother was at home as well, and the woman waited for him in the living room of the flat while he took a shower.
After his shower, Yap told the woman he wanted to show her his bedroom. Pulling her into the room, he locked the door, hugged her, told her that he liked her, and asked her to leave her boyfriend.
She rejected his advances and tried to leave the room, but the doorknob could not turn. She held on to it, but Yap used so much force to pull her back, the knob broke off the door, and she fell to the ground, hitting her head on a cabinet.
Yap then covered her mouth to stop her making noise and molested her. He then raped her multiple times after that, all the while telling her that he loved her. He also threatened to kill her.
After the assaults, Yap and the woman left the room and no one else was at home by then. He made the victim cook a meal but she could not complete the task. He then raped her again in the living room later.
Yap finally parted ways with the woman at Boon Lay. The woman’s cousin-in-law, who picked her up, noticed that she was pale and found out what happened. A police report was made.
Arguing for a jail sentence of 16 years with 22 strokes of the cane, the prosecution said that Yap’s actions were meant to “demean” his victim. Calling his actions a “deliberate infliction of special trauma”, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) David Khoo said that the incident had a “grave impact” on the woman during and after the ordeal.
“She was terrified that he would kill her,” DPP Khoo said, noting that after the incident, she became depressed, anxious, and had “recurring thoughts of (the rape)”.
In mitigation, defence counsel Ramesh Tiwary said that there was little premeditation in his client’s act, as he was “overcome with temptation only after showering”. Mr Tiwary also said that Yap’s early admission of guilt should be given considerable weight, as should his “clean record prior to the said offences”.
In sentencing Yap, Judicial Commissioner Pang Khang Chau disagreed with the defence counsel on Yap’s lack of previous offences, noting that the State Court charges showed he had committed offences that pre-date the current offences.
Investigations revealed that Yap had made obscene films with two other women in 2009 and 2012. He was found to be in possession of 462 obscene films.
Yap faced eight charges in the State Courts which were taken into consideration during sentencing. Three other charges in the High Court were taken into consideration as well.
For aggravated outrage of modesty, he could have been jailed up to 10 years, with caning. For rape, he could have faced a maximum jail term of 20 years. For aggravated sexual assault, he could have been jailed up to 20 years, with caning.
