A 40-year-old man has admitted to raping an unconscious woman at a Downtown East chalet room after being egged on by his friends to do so. Yap Chun Chieh pleaded guilty to one charge each of rape and molestation in court on Monday (1 Feb).
The incident took place two years ago, in September 2018. Yap was working as a manager and bouncer at Club V5 Tycoon at Ming Arcade near the junction of Orchard Road and Cuscaden Road. His friend, 28-year-old Tay Boon Huat, had booked a chalet room in D’Resort at Downtown East for his friends from Club V5 Tycoon on 17 and 18 Sept 2018.
Alongside Yap, those who were invited to the chat include fellow Club V5 Tycoon manager/bouncer Yong Chun Hong, Club V5 Tycoon cashier Gan Soon Chai, and another man named Yeo We Chieng.
All five men were at the nightclub after midnight on 17 Sept 2018. The victim, who cannot be named due to a court order, was also at the club. She had initially been with a group of friends but was left behind at the club when her friends left after a drunken dispute outside the club with another group.
The victim stayed behind and drank with Tay, Yong and Yeo. Around 6am, Yong took the woman to a women’s toilet and then a men’s toilet in the building. Yong spent 15 minutes alone with the victim behind closed doors. It is unclear what took place but the woman could not walk on her own by the time she returned.
The men decided to return to the chalet when the club closed at 7am and Yong told Yap to take the woman home by taxi. Yap waited for a Grab car at the taxi stand with the woman when Yeo drove by the taxi stand in his car with Yong, Tay and Gan.
Yong convinced Yap to join them and pulled the victim into the car too. In the car, Tay, Yap and Yong touched the woman’s breasts.
The group reached the chalet around 7.30am and Yap helped the woman onto one of the beds. The court heard that Yong and Tay told Yap something like: “The woman is already lying here and you still are not having sex with her. What are you waiting for?”
Tay went on to molest the victim and undressed her. Yong touched her as well before moving outside. Yap then undressed the unconscious woman and raped her, without wearing a condom. Tay subsequently sexually assaulted the woman.
Gan filmed Tay’s act while laying on a nearby bed but stopped when Tay noticed what he was doing. Tay saw a portion of the video and tried to delete the clip but failed to do so.
Around 9am, Yap dressed himself and helped the woman get dressed. He called a taxi to take her home but decided to take her to the nearest hotel where she remained unconscious until they reached her home later. Yap took the victim to Hotel 81 Premier Star at Geylang, where he molested her once again.
The woman regained consciousness around 7pm. She was startled to find herself sleeping beside a stranger and realised her underwear was also out of place. She left the hotel with Yap and parted ways after she paid S$70 for the stay.
Despite suspecting that something had happened to her, the victim did not immediately make a police report. The court heard that she felt depressed and did not know what to do. She went back to Club V5 later that night to meet a friend and discuss what had happened.
That night, she saw Yap at the club but did not confront him as she wanted to forget the matter. The victim plucked up the courage to confront Yap a week later when she returned to the club with her friends.
Yap reportedly admitted to the offences and apologised but claimed that nothing had happened at the hotel room. The victim decided to lodge a police report after she confided in her mother.
Another charge of molesting the woman in the car will be taken into consideration when Yap returns to court on 26 Feb for sentencing. He could be jailed up to 20 years and be fined or caned for rape and imprisoned up to two years and/or fined and/or caned for molestation.
In 2019, Gan was sentenced to one year and three months in jail and fined S$20,800 in 2019. Tay was sentenced to 10 years and three months in jail with five strokes of the cane. Yong’s case is still pending while Yeo was not prosecuted.