Man gets jail and caning for raping woman after failed robbery attempt
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — Unemployed and cruising on a bicycle to look for people to rob, Kelvin Singh Jagjit Singh spotted a potential victim when he saw a cleaner turning into a back alley in the Serangoon Gardens area.
When his robbery attempt was foiled by the woman, the 25-year-old sexually assaulted and raped her.
Singh was sentenced to 17 years in jail and 24 strokes of the cane by the High Court on Monday (Oct 30), after he was convicted of one count of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual assault by penetration.
Four other charges, including attempted robbery and criminal intimidation, were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Singh, armed with a foldable Swiss Army knife, was cycling in the Serangoon Gardens area around midnight on January 13 last year “looking for victims to rob”.
He decided on his target after seeing her turn into a back alley.
The woman, a cleaner from China who cannot be named due to a court order, flung her bag, which contained over S$800 in cash, over a fence into the compound of a private house when she saw Singh running towards her.
Frustrated, Singh forced the 42-year-old woman to the end of alley where he undressed and forced her to perform sexual acts on him. He later raped the woman.
Before he left, Singh warned the woman not to report the incident by making a slitting gesture against his own throat.
The woman later called her boyfriend, who made a police report. Singh was arrested three days after the incident while he was cycling around Tavistock Avenue Park in Serangoon Gardens.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen said that Singh had terrorised the victim with a knife and “imposed such palpable fear and terror in the victim that she felt she had no choice but to comply with his sexual demands”.
He noted that Singh had also been previously convicted for violence-related offences, including voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons as well as rioting and criminal intimidation.
Singh had also committed the latest offence after absconding from the Reformative Training Centre (RTC), said Mr Ng, who pointed out that this reflected Singh’s “blatant lawlessness and disregard for authority”.
