Man who raped maid twice gets 13 years in jail, 20 strokes
Photo: Reuters
SINGAPORE — A married man who raped his domestic helper twice in the span of a few hours was sentenced to 13 years’ jail and 20 strokes of the cane on Monday (Nov 14), as a judge lambasted the 46-year-old man for his “reprehensible” acts.
Chin Swee Chung, an alcohol distributor, first raped the 35-year-old married woman from Myanmar after returning from a drinking session at around 2.40am on Dec 20, 2013. He then forced himself upon her again less than five hours later.
During his seven-day trial, Chin had argued that the victim, who cannot be named because of a court order, had consented to the sex.
High Court judge Chan Seng Onn dismissed Chin’s claim, however, and said during sentencing on Monday: “What you did was reprehensible. You’ve raped your own maid twice and in the course of (a) night.”
Chin intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence, and has been granted bail of S$70,000.
The court was told that the victim started working for Chin’s family in July that year, and the pair hardly interacted.
When the rapes were committed, Chin’s wife and two children were on holiday in Hong Kong, while his mother, who lives with them, was also abroad.
That morning, Chin returned to their Pasir Ris flat tipsy, having downed five beers, two glasses of vodka and a cocktail while entertaining clients.
At around 2.40am, Chin called out to the victim outside her room, which only has a pair of curtains shielding the interior from the living room.
Awakened by the din, she came out and was pulled into the master bedroom, where he raped her.
After that, the victim took a bath and called a family friend, a compatriot also working in Singapore. Her call went unanswered, so she texted him to return the call. Emotionally distressed, she cried through the night and could not sleep. At around 6am, she decided to do the laundry.
About an hour later, Chin woke up and went up to her in the kitchen, before pulling her into the master bedroom again and raping her.
A couple of hours later, Chin gave her S$30 to buy groceries before he left for work. She took the chance to call her family friend again and told him, between sobs, that her life had been “destroyed”.
At his urging, she called the police. Two officers arrived at the flat and accompanied her to the void deck to wait for a senior investigation officer to join them.
Chin’s wife was alerted to the allegation and told him about it. When he returned, the two police officers testified that he told the victim: “Please, I’m sorry. Please don’t do this to me.”
Pushing for a sentence of 15 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane to be imposed, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kumaresan Gohulabalan said Chin had violated the victim in a place she would have regarded as her workplace, shelter and abode.
“The victim was forced to undergo the full gamut of emotional turmoil and trauma ensuing from such an intimate and visceral violation of her personal integrity not once, but twice. The second time was an even more cruel act as it was committed with the victim’s full and fresh awareness of what had been done to her only hours before,” he added.
Defence lawyer Sunil Sudheesan, however, contended that the victim had flirted with his client that day and was a willing party to sexual intercourse. He pointed to inconsistencies in the number of calls the victim said she had made to her friend, compared to the witness’ testimony.
But Justice Chan threw out the defence’s account, noting that Chin and the victim had hardly interacted before the night of the crimes. It was unlikely that she would make advances, much less agree to the other sexual acts that Chin alleged she had carried out, the judge added.
Justice Chan also noted that he saw no reason for the victim to lie about being raped, given that she had spoken positively to her friend about working with the family in the previous few months.
After Chin was convicted in September, his lawyers argued for a sentence of 11 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane.
In mitigation, Mr Sunil said there were no factors in this case typically associated with aggravated rape offences, adding that Chin had acted out of character and had no past brushes with the law.
Chin’s wife divorced him within three months of his crimes, while the domestic helper has since returned to her home country.
