Man who raped teenager gets 16 years’ jail, caning
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SINGAPORE — She had known him through a mutual friend for only an hour but accepted his invitation to go to his house, where she poured out her sorrows as a teenage single mother suffering from health problems.
When Muhammad Iskandar Ismail put an arm around her, the 19-year-old girl thought he was showing concern, but things quickly took a drastic turn: He threatened to strangle her if she did not have sex with him, and he hid her mobile phone so she could not call for help.
Fearing for her safety, she gave in to his demands, and was groped and raped over about an hour.
On Monday (July 10), Iskandar, 28, was sentenced to 16 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane.
The prosecution had asked for the minimum sentence, taking into account that Iskandar had pleaded guilty from the outset, sparing the victim — who cannot be named to protect her identity — from having to undergo cross-examination in a trial.
The two first met on Aug 16 last year. While on the way home after buying cigarettes and food, the teenager saw a friend and Iskandar, who worked as a truck driver on Jurong Island, at the foot of her block at about 10am.
They were introduced to each other and exchanged contact numbers. Shortly after, she received a message via WhatsApp from Iskandar asking if she wanted to “hang out” with him.
She agreed to go to his flat, which was nearby, as she was “feeling bored at home”, the court was told, and did not think that any harm would come to her even though she had just befriended Iskandar.
At his place, she started confiding in him about her heart problems and challenges in taking care of her two-year-old son, whom she had with an ex-boyfriend.
Iskandar told her that he “pitied” her and put his arm around her shoulder. She interpreted it as a “gesture of concern”, the court was told.
But things escalated, and despite her resistance, Iskandar started touching various parts of her body and pulled her towards him aggressively.
When she tried to look for excuses to leave, Iskandar grabbed her mobile phone and said she could go 50 minutes later.
Then, he sat on her chest and slapped her when she tried to push him away.
He also held her in a strangle for about five minutes, which made her worried that he could “do something worse to her”.
Begging Iskandar not to harm her as she had a sick son to care for, she complied with his instructions to carry out certain sexual acts.
The court was told that she stopped struggling when Iskandar raped her and only laid on a mattress crying.
She was allowed to go at about noon, and she headed to the Choa Chu Kang police station to lodge a report.
Iskandar had attempted to flee to his mother’s home in Johor Baru that night, but was arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Sellakumaran and Chew Xin Ying said Iskandar’s offences were aggravated as he had threatened to use violence on the victim, who was “placed in genuine fear for her life throughout the course of the incident”.
But they also took into account his early guilty plea, which spared the victim the trauma of having to testify in court.
They pressed for a sentence of 16 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane — the minimum penalty for one count of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual assault by penetration Iskandar faced.
Pleading for leniency, Iskandar said in a written mitigation letter that this was his first brush with the law. He also expressed his wishes to turn over a new leaf.
Justice Chan Seng Onn agreed with the prosecution’s submission on the sentence. He urged Iskandar to reflect on his acts and “resolve to change (himself)”.
The judge also urged him to pick up some skills during his time in prison so that he could contribute to society when he is released.
