Man accused of raping mum takes the stand, admits lifting her blouse

SINGAPORE — He drank, played loud music, invaded the privacy of his mother and stepfather, and called them names. His troublesome ways led them to accuse him of rape and molest as part of a ploy to kick the accused out of their house, argued the defence lawyers for the 33-year-old safety coordinator on Friday (July 22).

The possibility that the accusations against the man were fabricated had been raised by the defence earlier in the trial.

The accused took the stand during the seventh day of the trial, where he gave his testimony about his childhood and his relationship with his 56-year-old mother, stepfather and siblings.

Earlier this week, the court heard that the vaginal swab taken from his mother was never tested for semen because of a mix-up, and that the doctor who examined her did not detect any bleeding, open wounds, bruising or lacerations on her body. 

The man is pleading not guilty to one count each of rape, aggravated molest, and molest of his biological mother, which were allegedly committed at about 2.30am on Oct 4, 2013, in their family’s one-room flat. 

The accused is the second of three sons from the victim’s first marriage. 

Represented by Senior Counsel Harry Elias and his team, the man told the High Court on Friday that he would sometimes resent his mother for not being around when he grew up. He said she did not visit him or his siblings when they were living in a welfare home after their parents divorced when he was about five.

He cited an incident when he was 15 years old and needed her “motherly attention”. 

He turned up at her flat in Whampoa, where she stepped out in her bra and passed him S$2 before asking him to go back, he told the court. 

They also quarrelled over his drinking habit and how he made a nuisance of himself by playing loud music, among other issues.

During these quarrels, the accused said he would call her a “prostitute” or a “cheap whore”, while she told him he was not a “good” son.

Giving his version of the Oct 4 incident, the man said he was on medical leave the previous day, and had drunk a bottle of gin and tonic, as well as half a bottle of whisky earlier in the day.

When he returned home, he saw his mother lying on the bed, and he lifted her blouse.

He heard her asking softly “What is this, boy?”, but he pretended that he did not hear her and went to sleep on his mattress. 

The next morning, she woke him up so that he could accompany her to the coffee shop. 

The two had coffee together but started arguing when they talked about her divorcing her husband, the accused told the court.

During the prosecution’s cross-examination of the man on Friday, they picked on his claim that he only lifted his mother’s blouse and did not sexually assault her. Asked what was he “looking for” when he lifted the blouse, the man said he had wanted to see her private parts. 

The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sellakumaran Sellamuthoo, noted that the act itself was sufficient to constitute an offence and to get the man in trouble with the police.

“But instead, you want us to believe she made up this whole story about the rape, masturbation, the sucking and kissing of the breasts to get you into trouble,” said DPP Sellakumaran. 

The accused agreed that his act of lifting her blouse could be one of the reasons why his mother would want to frame him. 

However, the prosecution then pointed out that this meant his step-father would not have a reason to frame him, since the older man would not have asked the accused to lift the victim’s blouse. 

Going back to the man’s testimony about his childhood, the prosecution said that some of the issues he raised were heard in court for the first time, and were not put to his mother when she took the stand.

The Whampoa incident he cited, for instance, was something the man made up in his attempt to discredit his mother, suggested DPP Sellakumaran. 

The trial will resume on Sept 7.