Man who punched women when they refused sex gets jail

SINGAPORE: A man who assaulted women he met online after they refused to have sex with him was sentenced to jail for six months and four weeks on Wednesday (May 15).

Abdul Rahman A Karim, 35, met two of the three women on online classifieds site Locanto, where they had advertised their sexual services.

One of the women was an 18-year-old student who had posted an advertisement on Locanto in July last year, saying she was selling her virginity to the highest bidder as she was "really in need of cash".

The girl, whose identity is protected by gag order, was contacted by Abdul Rahman, who offered her S$5,000.

They met at Aljunied MRT Station on the evening of Aug 20 last year and went to a hotel.

After showering, the girl asked Abdul Rahman to pay her the S$5,000 before having sex, but the man refused, saying he would pay her after.

He kissed her but the girl pushed him away. Abdul Rahman then punched her on her head, before grabbing her and swinging her towards the bed.

Abdul Rahman covered her mouth with a hand before punching her head three to four times.

She also refused a demand from him for oral sex, pushing him away and screaming for help. By this time, she was naked as her towel had fallen off during the assault, said Deputy Public Prosecutors Sarah Ong and Ho Lian-Yi.

WOMAN FLED NAKED, SOUGHT HELP 

He then told her to stop shouting and said he would leave. As he went to take his clothes, the woman ran out of the hotel room naked and squatted behind a dustbin, shouting for help.

A woman from another room offered her shelter and the victim called the police. She later went to the hospital where bruising was found on her ear.

Abdul Rahman pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to this woman, along with two more charges of hurting two other women.

He had met another woman on Locanto in November 2017. He agreed to pay the 21-year-old pub singer S$800 for two sessions of sex, and they met later that month at a void deck.

Abdul Rahman claimed that he had forgotten to bring the money and asked the woman to meet him at a place he claimed was his home.

At a staircase landing, Abdul Rahman began kissing and touching the woman, but she pushed him away and demanded the cash first.

They began arguing about the money and Abdul Rahman punched the woman's face and stomach, while the woman hit him twice in his back and shouted for help.

After punching the woman four to five times in the head, Abdul Rahman fled and she called the police.

WOMAN HAD TO RECONSTRUCT NOSE AFTER ASSAULT

A medical report found tenderness over her nasal bridge and she was given medical leave. The woman also claimed that her nose was crooked afterwards and she went to Bangkok a month after the attack for nose reconstruction.

The third victim was a 32-year-old jobless woman Abdul Rahman met on a mobile application.

They met at a hotel on the night of Jan 10 last year. However, after Abdul Rahman kissed the woman, she changed her mind about having sex with him and said she wanted to go home.

This upset Abdul Rahman, who began arguing with her. As the woman tried to leave, he punched her in her ribs and body.

He also hit her on the jaw when she reached for the phone to call reception and report the assault.

The pair had "a quick session of intercourse" before Abdul Rahman left the room and the woman called the police.

The prosecution said his "tendency to use violence against women who refused to have sex against him is reprehensible", and cited a High Court ruling that said women "have an inviolable right to be respected; they have an inalienable right to say no".

"In beating up these women, the accused had not only inflicted physical harm against them, but had also disregarded their personal autonomy, and placed them in fear," said the prosecutors.

For each charge of voluntarily causing hurt, Abdul Rahman could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.