Singapore ― A man admitted he had raped his ex-girlfriend to get her pregnant so that she will have no choice but to marry him.
A 26-year-old man used a knife to threaten his ex-girlfriend with whom he was in a relationship for the past 10 years prior to their breakup – forcing her to reveal her sexual history with her new boyfriend before sexually abusing her.
The man met the victim in secondary school and began dating when he was 16 while she was 14 years old.
It was reported that the victim got pregnant twice when she was 14 years old and another time when she was 23. The woman had an abortion on both occasions.
The relationship ended on Feb 11, 2019, when the woman was 24 years old, as she had discovered he had cheated on her again.
Despite avoiding him and blocking him on WhatsApp, the man found ways to contact and reconcile with the victim.
The man called his ex-girlfriend two weeks after the breakup and said he wanted to settle down with her, reported Channel News Asia.
He said he wanted to meet up to talk about their marriage, but the woman refused, making him angry.
On Feb 25, 2019, he sent a photo of his father’s parang (knife) to the victim with the intent of bringing it with him while he looked for her.
He was stopped by his family but later brought a bread knife from a shop.
The accused planned to use the knife to get his ex-girlfriend to reveal whether she had sex with other men.
He messaged her the following day, asking to meet up.
“Even meeting (you) for 10 – 15 minutes is enough to ease my pining for you. I am truly sorry about yesterday because I can’t accept the fact that you have found my replacement,” the man said.
The victim saw the man waiting for her at her home, and he suggested they go to a hotel to talk.
She got on his motorcycle after making him promise he would not get angry.
However, he threatened to punch her when he saw her using her phone and refused to give him the password.
The accused hit her forearm and motorcycle helmet, causing the visor to dislodge.
When the man saw a ring on the victim’s ring finger, he broke down in tears, pushing her to agree to head over to his flat to talk.
They arrived at his flat at about 1 am and went to his bedroom.
Spotting the bread knife on the bed, the victim thought it was the parang in the earlier photo.
The court heard that the man stripped down to his boxers and later placed the knife’s blade against her neck, asking her if she had sex with another man.
The interrogation continued until she admitted having sex with her new boyfriend. The man also asked how many times and where.
Sliding the blade across the victim’s thigh, the man said he wanted to have sex with her.
Even though the victim cried and refused, the man said he didn’t care and forced her to perform a sex act on him.
He then said it was “his turn now” as she had intercourse with other men.
It was reported that the man raped the victim in the same position she had sex with the other man.
After raping her again, he said he wanted to impregnate her, so she had no choice but to marry him.
The man smashed her phone screen because she refused to share the password. She later took a Grab car home and informed her boyfriend of what happened.
The police were soon informed of the incident, and the accused was arrested the same morning.
He had also sent messages to the victim’s best friend saying he was apologetic and wished to surrender to the authorities.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Siaw sought 13 years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for the accused, noting the deliberate ejaculation and intention of making the victim pregnant.
The victim however did not get pregnant as a result of the incident.
“To rape the victim is bad enough, but to make the victim bear in her womb the fruit of rape is… unspeakable,” said Ms Siaw, noting it was “tantamount to the deliberate infliction of special trauma.”
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Kyle Sim sought six years’ imprisonment and six strokes of the cane, highlighting that the victim had reportedly forgiven the man.
In the 17 months after the offences, the victim had posted numerous times on Instagram, such as a post three weeks after the incident saying, “No matter what happens, no matter how long it takes, I’m always here for you.”
The victim had also posted, “I still love you,” referring to her ex-boyfriend, on Jan 5, 2020.
Still, social media posts do not indicate that the victim has forgiven the man nor did not suffer a degree of harm, said Judicial Commissioner Philip Jeyaretnam.
He noted, “It’s a process where the victim has to struggle with the trauma.”
When the lawyer claimed there was “no assault” in the commission of the offence itself as everyone is afraid of being attacked to some extent, the judge said he was unsure this was entirely accurate.
“What you’re doing now, with respect, is trying to explain away her feelings expressed in the victim impact statement … and I have two difficulties with that – first, I’m not sure that’s how trauma works, I’m not sure trauma is limited to rational responses to past events, but the second part of it is that you’re saying she’s forgiven him, but then here she is expressing these fears – does that fit with getting past it, which must be an aspect of forgiveness?” he asked.
Regarding special trauma inflicted, the defence lawyer said the couple had engaged in unprotected intercourse in the past.
“With no disrespect to the victim, your honour will note there were two prior abortions. Given that this was the ordinary manner in which parties engaged in sexual intercourse, defence submits that it is not deliberate special infliction of special trauma,” said Mr Sim as reported by CNA.
However, Ms Siaw said this “takes a totally different complexion in the context of rape.”
“It shows the victim did care deeply about the accused, and that, we say, makes the betrayal all the more painful,” she said, referencing the Instagram posts which did not talk about sexual assault but of nostalgia.
On Thursday (Oct 14), the man pleaded guilty to one count of rape. Five other charges, such as a second count of rape and aggravated sexual assault and criminal intimidation will be considered during sentencing.
The judge adjourned the sentencing to a later date, noting he needed more time on the case. /TISG
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