Husband on trial for sexually assaulting his wife

SINGAPORE: A man is on trial for sexually assaulting his wife after discussing their marriage in the master bedroom.

The 37-year-old Singaporean man is contesting two charges of sexual assault by penetration and one count of obstructing justice by asking his mother-in-law to tell her daughter to withdraw the allegation against him.

The case comes after marital immunity for rape was fully repealed in Singapore as of January 2020. 

According to a statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law in December 2019, sexual relations in any relationship should be based on mutual consent, and the amendment "ensures that all women are protected from sexual abuse".

According to court documents, the man married his wife, now 38, in 2012. They have two children together.

The names of all parties cannot be published to protect the alleged victim's identity.

The man used to live with his wife, children and parents-in-law, until he was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health in August 2019.

After he was discharged, he moved out of the family flat and stayed with his sister and her family.

His sister testified on Tuesday (Oct 10) that she had requested this, because her brother's wife was allegedly supplying marijuana to him.

On Jul 12, 2020, the man decided to move back to the flat without informing his wife, said the prosecution.

According to the prosecution's case, the woman did not want her husband to move back in with her.

Various family members tried to help resolve the dispute, and the woman eventually allowed her husband to stay over that night.

On the night of Jul 13, 2020, the man initiated a talk with his wife about their marriage, prosecutors said.

They purportedly discussed the matter in the master bedroom with the door closed.

During the discussion, the man suddenly pulled down his wife's clothes and sexually assaulted her before grabbing her and kissing her lips. 

The wife did not consent to these sexual acts, said the prosecution.

They said the accused was interrupted when his 11-year-old son knocked on the door to get his mother's handphone to play games.

After handing the phone to the boy, the man returned to the bed and allegedly sexually assaulted his wife again.

The woman later managed to run into the master bedroom toilet while her husband was passing their nine-year-old daughter some hair serum, after the girl knocked on the door to ask for it.

Sometime the next morning, the man called his sister and said he had done "something wrong" to the victim, according to the prosecution's case.

He purportedly told his sister that he had tried to "force himself to make love" to his wife.

His wife lodged a police report on the morning of Jul 14, 2020, saying she had been sexually assaulted.

Her husband was arrested that afternoon and gave a statement to the police admitting that his wife had not consented to a sexual act.

In October 2020, after the man had been charged in court, he tried calling his wife's mother to talk about the allegation against him.

He allegedly called his mother-in-law four times in October 2020 asking her to tell his wife to withdraw the allegation.

His mother-in-law recorded the phone calls and sent the recordings to her daughter, who sent them to the investigating officer.

In the phone calls to his mother-in-law, the man allegedly said he would consent to his wife's personal protection order application against him if she withdrew her sexual assault allegation.

He claimed that his lawyer had informed him that his wife could withdraw the allegation.

He allegedly said he would pay her fine if she was charged for withdrawing the allegation, and that their children could end up in foster care if she did not withdraw the allegation.

The man also purportedly said that his wife, her children and the case would be published in the papers if she did not withdraw the allegation.

He also allegedly said that there was a "strong possibility" that he would be acquitted.

The man was assessed by a consultant with the Institute of Mental Health. While he had a history of drug-induced psychosis and major depressive disorder with psychotic features, he had been in remission prior to the alleged offences.

THE SISTER TESTIFIES

On Tuesday, the man's lawyer, Mr Vinit Chhabra, posed questions to the accused's sister about what she knew of the marriage.

Under his questioning, the accused's sister said that she had brought her brother to live with her after his discharge from IMH in 2019.

He stayed with her for about 11 months, and his children and wife would spend the weekend with him at her place, said the sister.

She said her brother would also go on holidays with his wife and children during this period.

The accused's sister said the reason her brother went to stay with her was because she told his doctor that it was not safe for him to be home with his wife.

This was because he and his wife were taking marijuana or cannabis, said the sister.

She said she knew that her brother's wife got pregnant but had a miscarriage in February 2020.

According to her, she had the impression that her brother's family was a happy one, given the frequency at which they went out together.

Asked if they had any marital difficulties, the sister said: "I mean, like normal families, there are differences. And then sometimes they are together, and then sometimes they are just having arguments, but after that they are back again, so it's always like a ding dong game, I mean like, it's like a normal family, I don't see anything abnormal about it," she said.

"During this 11-month period, (my client) was also sexually active with (his wife), were you aware?" asked Mr Chhabra.

The accused's sister said she knew that her brother would go over to his wife's place and come back late at night.

"He just says he slept over, so I won't know if he's sexual or not, because he doesn't share his sexual things with me," said the accused's sister.

She said she heard that her brother's father-in-law was not very happy with him, but did not know why.

According to the defence, this was because the accused had revealed to his IMH psychiatrist in August 2019 that his wife was passing drugs to him.

The accused's father-in-law was upset with him because he believed that the accused had tried to implicate his wife in drug consumption.

The trial continues.