Singapore — A man who was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane for raping a minor tried to get a lighter sentence, noting his low intelligence made it hard for him to choose from pleading guilty or claiming trial.
In March this year, Muhammad Alif Ab Rahim, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of rape of a minor and two counts of sexual assault by penetration of a minor.
He revealed having force-fed vodka to a 13-year-old girl before brutally raping and sexually assaulting her over the course of two hours.
The assault was reported to have happened at a secluded area of Kallang Riverside Park on the evening of Oct 24, 2017.
This was not the first time Alif had a brush with the law. From the age of 21, he was imprisoned five times between 2007 and 2014 for cheating, robbery, theft, criminal breach of trust and sexual assault by penetration.
According to The Straits Times, the 13-year-old knew Alif as he was friends with one of her friends and had called him “uncle”.
After the attack, the victim crawled to safety and sent voice messages through WhatsApp to various people informing them of the incident.
The police were soon alerted, tracking Alif down at his girlfriend’s home.
He was found hiding in a bedroom cupboard.
Although he initially claimed not to be acquainted with the victim, he gave a different account a year later, saying she had asked him for sex.
Alif then tried to retract his guilty plea. He was initially represented by a lawyer Gloria James who later discharged herself from the case.
Alif filed his own written submissions, claiming there were “evidential gaps” in the medical evidence such that certain charges were not proved beyond a reasonable doubt, reported ST.
On Wednesday (Nov 17), his attempt to retract his guilty plea was denied by a three-judge Court of Appeal.
The court highlighted that Alif had opportunities to choose how to plead on multiple occasions.
“There is no evidence to suggest that the appellant did not have the genuine freedom to plead guilty,” said the court.
The court heard that Alif had changed into different clothes after the rape to avoid being detected.
He had threatened the victim and her grandmother to prevent them from reporting the incident to the police.
The court said that Alif also curated various versions of the events when explaining his alleged involvement in the rape.
Regarding his appeal for a lighter sentence, the court said, “The victim suffered serious harm as he had used significant violence against her in the course of the assaults… in addition, the appellant exhibited significant opportunism, took deliberate steps to conceal his offences and did not use a condom.”
It was confirmed by the Institute of Mental Health that Alif’s intelligence was in the borderline range, yet he did not suffer from intellectual disability.
For each count of rape and sexual assault by penetration of a minor, an offender may be imprisoned for up to 20 years, fined or caned.
The Penal Code states, “Where a man, in order to commit or to facilitate the commission of an offence of rape, voluntarily causes hurt to any person, or puts a person in fear of death or hurt to that person or any other person shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than eight years and not more than 20 years and also with not less than 12 strokes of the cane.” / TISG
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