Woman jailed for not reporting lover’s rape of daughter

SINGAPORE — The woman knew that her lover had been raping her daughter over a period of two years, but she did not report the incidents and even doubted her daughter’s account.

On Monday (Feb 25), the 40-year-old woman was sentenced to six months’ jail, after she admitted to one count of intentionally omitting to give information about the rapes to the authorities.

She cannot be named to protect the identity of her daughter, who is now aged 16.

The woman’s lover, now 48, was sentenced last year to 34 years’ jail, with 24 strokes of the cane, after he admitted to four counts of statutory rape.

The man’s offences took place over a seven-year period, starting with molestation and gradually escalating in severity — penetrating her private parts with a vibrator, performing sex acts and, eventually, raping her.

TOLD HER MOTHER, THEN GAVE UP

The court heard on Monday that the woman, who worked as a cook, lived in a three-room public housing unit in Clementi West. In 2006, the divorcee entered into “an illicit relationship” with the man, a taxi driver who was married then.

The woman’s biological daughter was aged four and living with her maternal grandparents.

In 2010, when the girl was about seven years old, the man — who had stopped working by then — offered to take care of her during the school holidays while her mother was at work.

The woman agreed and that was when the sexual assaults began.

On one occasion, he took her to the master bedroom and molested her.

While she was not aware that the act was wrong, the court was told that she “did not like” it as it felt “very painful and uncomfortable”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chee Ee Ling said: “She... told her mother that (he) took off her pants in the room and did ‘sexual things’ to her.” 

The woman confronted her lover, but he denied committing the act.

However, the man continued sexually assaulting the girl, even though she would report such incidents to her mother.

“Eventually, (the girl) stopped telling (the mother) of these sexual assaults, when she realised that it did nothing to stop (the man) and only created a hostile atmosphere, where (her mother) would confront him, he would deny it, and they would both quarrel,” DPP Chee said.

Still, the woman would ask her daughter if the sexual assaults were continuing, but, not wanting any tensions, the girl said no.

MOVING INTO HIS HOME

In 2014, when the girl was about 12, the man suggested to mother and daughter that they move into his matrimonial flat in Clementi, where he lived with his wife and son.

Despite suspecting that her lover had been sexually assaulting her daughter, the woman agreed to the move.

The girl was upset when she found out about the plan and objected to it, but it did not change her mother's mind.

Thereafter, the man’s sexual assaults grew in severity.

Some time between January 2014 and June 2016, while the woman was in the flat, the man asked the girl to take a shower with him in the kitchen toilet so that he could have sex with her.

The woman later saw the two of them emerging from the toilet and asked her daughter if the man had had sex with her.

Not wanting her mother to be angry, she said no.

“However, given what (the girl) had told her before about the previous sexual assaults, (the woman) did not believe (her daughter),” DPP Chee said.

She even got angry with her daughter, the court was told.

In June 2016, the man’s ex-wife and son moved out of the flat. The man moved to the woman’s flat in Clementi West.

Some time during that period, he asked the girl — in the presence of her mother — if he could shower with her in the bathroom. She complied because she did not want to anger the man.

The woman questioned her lover if he was going to have sex with her daughter. He told her no but did it anyway.

When they exited the bathroom, the woman was standing outside and looking angry because she believed her lover had had sex with her daughter.

Eventually, the girl confided in the man’s ex-wife and sought her help.

She was referred to a social worker and taken to a police station to make a report.

Urging the court to impose the maximum sentence of six months’ jail, DPP Chee charged that the woman “did nothing to protect (the victim) and continuously allowed (the man) to have easy access to (the girl)”.

“The accused, being the victim’s biological mother, ought to have protected (her daughter). Instead, she betrayed the victim’s trust and turned a blind eye when she had reason to believe that (the man) was sexually assaulting (the girl).”