Man accused of raping mum is lying in court: Prosecution
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Claims that he only lifted his mother’s blouse but did not sexually assault her are part of a tale cooked up to explain “incriminating” evidence presented to the court against him, the prosecution charged on Wednesday (Sept 7), as it tore apart the testimony of a man accused of raping and molesting his mother.
The 33-year-old safety coordinator made these “illogical and unbelievable” claims only after a recording of a conversation between him and his 56-year-old mother was played in court, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sellakumaran Sellamuthoo as the prosecution continued its cross-examination.
In the six-minute phone conversation recorded by the mother played during the first tranche of the High Court trial in July, the man had said, in Malay: “I like...I want again...Boy likes mother. This is between us.”
To which his mother responded: “Cannot. I have a husband, boy...This morning I was really shocked...I am puzzled why my son become like this...There are pretty women you can get, why like this?”
The accused — who alleges that his mother and stepfather are falsely accusing him of rape, aggravated molest, and molest of his mother as part of a ploy to kick him out of their house — told the court that he was being “sarcastic” in the conversation and that his mother was upset at how he had “cursed at her” at a coffeeshop the morning after the incident.
The accused, the victim and their family members are not named due to a court gag order.
On Wednesday, DPP Sellakumaran repeatedly questioned why “important elements” of the accused’s testimony were absent from statements taken by the police within a week of the incident on Oct 4, 2013.
Neither were they raised when his mother testified against him on the stand, said DPP Sellakumaran. Calling these claims “afterthoughts”, he said: “You made these up along the way to explain away the conversation you had with (your mother) in the morning.”
Disagreeing, the accused, told the court he did not tell the police he had lifted his mother’s blouse because that would “worsen my situation”.
To that, DPP Sellakumaran retorted: “It’s not that you just didn’t tell the police about (lifting the mother’s blouse), you gave them a completely different version of events...I put it to you, that you lied to the police and you are lying in court.”
The accused also claimed that he was “beaten and threatened” into recording two out of six statements recorded by the police on the evening of the incident—which related specifically to the rape charge.
But investigating officer for the case ASP Thermizi Tho disagreed with defence lawyer Andy Lem’s allegation’s that “threats, inducements and promises” were offered to the accused to “extract a confession” from him.
The accused was “forthcoming” in offering information, the statements were repeated to him, and both the investigator and accused had acknowledged by signing on the statements, said ASP Tho.
The trial continues on Thursday.
