Man accused of raping minor attempts suicide

SINGAPORE — He allegedly touched his son’s ex-girlfriend inappropriately and raped her when she was just 11. And over the next one and a half years, the 45-year-old man is said to have continued preying on the minor repeatedly.

On Monday (March 14), his trial was supposed to start in the High Court, but the accused, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, did not show up because he had attempted suicide, said his wife, who was his bailor.

The teary-eyed woman told the court her husband had burned charcoal in their flat in a bid to end his life and he was taken to the Institute of Mental Health. She added that her husband is currently in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital’s emergency ward, undergoing medical checks.

The man faces 17 charges, allegedly committed between December 2012 and July 2014.

He is accused of sexually assaulting the girl for the first time in a hotel room on Christmas eve in 2012.

Between March 2013 and November 2013, the man allegedly committed several forms of sexual acts on the girl. For instance, he is accused of having made the girl perform oral sex on him four times in a car at Pasir Ris Park.

In December that year, the man allegedly asked the girl to take naked photographs of herself in various poses and send these to him.

He is accused of raping her in May and June the following year. Shortly after, he purportedly threatened to post naked photographs of her online unless she had sexual intercourse with him and performed other sexual acts.

Justice Chan Seng Onn on Monday extended the accused person’s bail until he is fit to attend court. If he is found guilty of rape or statutory rape, the man can be jailed up to 20 years and is liable to a fine or caning.