‘Monster’ father's unintelligible appeal against sentence leaves court perplexed
SINGAPORE — He was set to appeal against his sentence for prostituting his wife, forcing their six-year-old daughter to perform sexual acts on him and molesting his 13-year-old niece.
But during the hearing in the Court of Appeal on Monday (July 15), the 28-year-old man mumbled something unintelligible and did not raise any proper arguments when questioned by Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash.
Previously described by the prosecution as a monster who had perpetuated the most aggravated case of human trafficking in Singapore, he appeared — without any legal representation — before a panel of three judges.
The man had been sentenced to 25-and-a-half years’ jail, the maximum 24 strokes of the cane and fined S$12,000.
He is currently serving his sentence in prison, and cannot be named in order to protect his victims’ identities.
When asked why his sentence should be reduced, he mumbled incoherently: “Uh… I’m looking exactly for…”
He also tried to gesture with his shackled hands and smacked his cheeks with his open palm before saying: “I’ve not gone for my appointment in a very long time.”
He did not say what appointment he was referring to.
The judges ordered a five-minute break for prosecutors and the interpreter to determine if the man was feeling well.
After the session resumed, Deputy Public Prosecutor Winston Man told the court that based on the man’s account, he had taken his medicine for epilepsy and high blood pressure earlier before leaving prison for the Supreme Court.
Judge of Appeal Prakash asked if his previous lawyer, Mr Ng Boon Gan, was representing him. The DPP said it did not appear he was representing the man any longer.
When asked whether he could hire another lawyer, the man said: “I don’t know how much is in my bank.”
Judge of Appeal Prakash then told him to apply to the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, adding that he should inform the prosecutors if he was not feeling well, so they would “not waste everyone’s time by bringing him here”.
The appeal was adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.
THE CASE
The man had pleaded guilty in February to prostituting his wife, forcing their six-year-old daughter to perform sexual acts on him and molesting his 13-year-old niece in a hotel room.
The man began physically assaulting his wife while they were dating, and ramped up his abuse after they got married in 2012. This continued throughout her pregnancies.
Four years after they got married, he demanded that she provide sexual services to pay for their infant son’s milk powder and other household expenses. The wife was reluctant at first, but eventually succumbed out of fear that he would intensify his physical assaults.
They were in financial difficulties as she had stopped working as a receptionist the year before, while he remained unemployed. He rejected her request to apply for a job, insisting that prostitution was a “quick and lucrative” means of earning money to sustain their family.
Following his instructions, she began soliciting customers on a website that he used to engage prostitutes. He schooled her in industry jargon, dictated her fees and directed her to respond to interested customers.
If she could not meet a daily quota of customers set by him, he would force her to get more customers the following day.
Between June and late August 2016, she ended up servicing 138 customers and earning nearly S$11,000 — money that she handed over to him.
During a stay at Value Hotel Balestier in July 2016, he forced his daughter to perform sex acts on him while his wife was in the toilet.
She stopped him when she saw what was happening, but he threatened to beat them up if they told anyone about it.
On Aug 1, 2016, he insisted that his wife take her niece to him. She refused but when he threatened to continue hitting her, she dragged the girl out of school. She took the girl to Value Hotel Thomson, where she was molested by him.
The man’s mother called the police about three weeks later, after she learned about the abuse of the man’s daughter.
