SINGAPORE: She said “no” and put up a struggle, but Indian national Daler Singh paid no mind to the victim’s pleas. He pinned her to the ground and forced himself on her.
The 29-year-old Indonesian tourist could not escape, but managed to stop Singh from raping her by covering her private parts with her hands.
Singh, a construction worker, was sentenced to four years and nine months’ jail and four strokes of the cane on Tuesday (Jul 11) for attempted rape.
The victim, who used to work in Singapore as a maid, was introduced to a friend of Singh’s, Jagraj, by a mutual friend on Jan 24, 2016. She took a liking to Jagraj and agreed to follow him to Choa Chu Kang Park that night, the court heard.
When they got to the park at about 8pm, they met up with Jagraj’s friends, including Singh. About 10 minutes later, Jagraj took the woman to a secluded grass patch, where they had consensual sex.
Jagraj called out to Singh to pass the couple some tissue paper so they could clean themselves up. As he did so, Singh caught a glimpse of the victim, who was partially dressed.
He was aroused, and told the victim he wanted to have sex with her too. She refused.
After rejoining the group for about 15 minutes, Jagraj and the victim stole away to have sex again. When Jagraj returned a while later without the woman, Singh went looking for her.
He found her at the same grass patch, and asked her to have sex with him again. She said no.
As the woman tried to leave, Singh grabbed her and carried her back there, where he pulled off her panties, undressed himself and tried unsuccessfully to rape her.
The ordeal lasted about 10 minutes, the court heard.
Singh cleaned himself up, got dressed and left the victim, in tears, alone. By the time she had put her clothes back on, Singh, Jagraj and their friends were nowhere to be found.
She stopped a passer-by, who called the police at about 9.35pm, saying a woman had just approached him claiming she had been raped.
Singh was arrested two days later at Ama Keng Hostel, where he lived.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana urged the court to sentence Singh to at least five years’ jail and caning.
“A clear signal needs to be sent … that a woman’s inalienable right to say ‘no’ will always be protected by the Courts, and any offender who seeks to trample upon that right will face harsh penal consequences”, the prosecutor said.
Singh’s lawyer Suresh Damodara urged the court to “consider the facts peculiar to the victim”, including her having had unprotected sex with Jagraj while suffering from chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease.
The woman had also lied in her police report, claiming Singh had not only raped her, but sodomised her as well. “As to what were the victim’s motivations in making up her story, we will never know”, the lawyer said, noting that the victim has become uncontactable.
For attempted rape, Singh, who is married with two sons, could have been jailed up to 10 years and caned.