Netizens react after a man gets 14 years’ jail out of a possible 20, a fine or caning for sexual abuse of his niece and called for heavier penalties, especially for those who abuse young victims.
This follows news of a man who sexually assaulted his niece, who was just six years old at the time. Reports said that the man was watching porn before sexually abusing his niece and repeated the act the next day.
Family trust broken
The girl, her older brother, and their mother had moved into the home of the children’s grandmother in 2008 after their parents divorced.
The abuse started in 2010 when the uncle was watching a pornographic video, and he called the girl over to watch the video with him.
Although she did not understand the sexual nature of the video showing two naked adults having intercourse, she felt disgusted, reported Channel News Asia.
The uncle then told her to lie down on the sofa, with her head in his lap. Given their family relationship, the girl did not object.
He sexually assaulted the child without her consent, and she felt extreme pain. But she did not shout for help or tell anyone about what happened because she was afraid.
The next night, the uncle again abused her when he found her asleep on the sofa. She tried to get away, but he followed her. As he was pulling down his pants, his mobile phone made a sound, which stopped him from carrying out what he intended.
He was reported to the police on Jul 13, 2018. But he was arrested only on Mar 5, 2019. Investigations found that he had consumed methamphetamine the day before his arrest, reported CNA. He had also been convicted before for consuming morphine.
The abuse happened in 2010 but came to light only in 2018 after the girl sought treatment at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital for abdominal pains.
She revealed, in a form that she was given after she was admitted, that she’d had suicidal thoughts and tried harming herself in the past. When she was interviewed by a clinical counsellor, she confided that she had been abused by her uncle and that she would feel scared and suffer flashbacks whenever she visited the flat.
The prosecution asked for a minimum of seven years imprisonment for the drug offence.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Jane Lim and Samyata Ravindran sought seven to eight years jail for the sexual assault. They pointed out:
“He took advantage of his position as a trusted family member residing in the victim’s home to gain easy access to her and exploited her to commit truly unthinkable and perverse acts.
“The victim has suffered immeasurable harm at the hands of the accused and will carry the horrible memories of the sexual abuse for the rest of her life.”
Defence lawyer Sadhana Rai asked for a shorter jail term of five to six years, arguing that it had been a “singular” incident over two days, and he did not commit the offence again.
But prosecutors pointed out that as the child eventually moved out of the flat, the abuser no longer had easy access to her.
Justice See said in his sentence that the offences were not one-off, as the uncle repeated the act the next day.
“(The victim) was clearly young, immature, and vulnerable. In addition, she would not have been in any position to give consent to the act and had plainly not agreed to being violated by the accused.”
Now 52, the abuser was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on Monday (Apr 18) after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual penetration of a minor, and one charge of taking methamphetamine.
He could have got 20 years for sexual penetration of a minor
Such offenders could also be fined or caned. However, the uncle cannot be caned as he was older than 50 when he was sentenced.
The prosecution did not seek additional jail time for the offence.
The accused could also have been jailed for up to 13 years and given up to 12 strokes of the cane for an illegal drug use offence.
Penalty for sexual abuse too lenient
Netizens commented on the news, urging authorities to take another look at the penalty for sexual abuse of minors and impose a more suitable deterrent.
“So many similar offences surfaced up recently. Please relook into the penalty of sexual abuse offences by trusted guardians/parents/ family members against children,” said Facebook user HM Soh.
“Too lenient. I am all for the death sentence. If drug trafficking carries the death sentence because it ruins people’s lives, the same should go for such offences because these disgusting acts torment these young victims mentally and psychologically for life too,” he added, the comment gaining over 110 likes.
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