Rapist’s sentence reduced following landmark judgment

SINGAPORE — Disagreeing with a High Court decision to impose equal sentences for the offences of rape and sexual assault by penetration with a finger, the apex court reduced the strokes of the cane for the latter by two.

There is an “intelligible difference” between penile penetration and digital penetration, said Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin on behalf of a five-judge panel on Monday (Sept 25).

“Penile penetration is a more intimate act than digital penetration. The abuse of such an act therefore represents a greater degree of intrusion into the sexual autonomy of the victim,” said Justice Chao, who heard the appeal of former beach patrol officer Pram Nair (picture) against his conviction and sentence.

Penile penetration also carries the risk of unwanted pregnancy and transmission of sexual diseases.

The five-judge court also included Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Judges of Appeal Andrew Phang, Judith Prakash and Tay Yong Kwang.

Nair had been sentenced last October to a total of 11 years and 19 days’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane for raping and sexually assaulting a 20-year-old contract teacher in May 2012.

The sentence took into account the 11 months and 11 days he had been in remand after his arrest.

His total jail term remains unchanged with Monday’s ruling.

Nair, then 23, had approached the woman at the Wave House, a club and restaurant at Sentosa, after she had downed several shots of whisky and orange-flavoured liqueur.

He suggested playing a game that involved pouring liqueur from the bottle directly into her mouth, and later took her to the beach and raped her.

During the trial, the High Court gave equal weight to the offences of rape and digital penetration.

But the Court of Appeal disagreed with the approach.

“Our courts have always said that rape is generally regarded as ‘the most grave of all the sexual offences’,” said Justice Chao.

For the appeal, the apex court turned to a new sentencing framework for rape cases set out in May, which grouped such cases into three sentencing bands of increasing severity.

Each band carries a different range of sentences — starting from 10 years’ jail and six strokes of the cane, and going up to 20 years’ jail and 18 strokes of the cane.

“It follows that there should also be three sentencing bands for the offence of sexual penetration of the vagina using a finger, though the range of starting sentence for each band should be lower to reflect the lesser gravity of the offence,” said Justice Chao.

Spelling out the three sentencing bands for digital penetration, he said the first band attracts sentences of seven to 10 years’ jail and four strokes of the cane.

The second band entails 10 to 15 years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane, while the third band for the most severe cases carries 15 to 20 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane.

The appeal judges ruled that Nair fell in the “middle to upper range” of Band 1, given that he had exploited the victim in a vulnerable position.

For the offence of sexual assault by penetration, he was given eight years and six months’ jail and four strokes of the cane.

Taking into account the time he had spent in remand, the sentence for the offence was reduced to seven years, six months and 19 days’ jail and four strokes of the cane.