SINGAPORE — Back when he was in active service as a ranking officer in the Singapore Police Force, Rama Shanker Singh groped two police full-time national servicemen (NSFs) under his charge on separate occasions.

His actions in the early 2000s left the two male victims feeling humiliated and helpless, though they did not alert anyone to the incidents at that time because they were afraid to report a superior officer.

On Wednesday (June 12), some two decades later, Singh’s actions caught up with him and he was sentenced to 24 days’ jail and a fine of S$20,000. He faces another 20 days' jail if he fails to pay the fine.

Earlier this month, Singh, now 60 and retired from the force, pleaded guilty to two counts of using criminal force on the victims and one unrelated offence of possessing obscene films.

One charge of outrage of modesty was dismissed amounting to acquittal, while four other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The names of the victims cannot be disclosed due to a court order to protect their identities.

District Judge Teoh Ai Lin took into account as aggravating factors Singh’s abuse of authority and the fact that he had used criminal force on each victim more than once.

WHAT HAPPENED

Court documents showed that Singh was a police officer from May 1984 to June 2016 and last held the rank of a superintendent before retiring.

Among the postings he held were as chief investigation officer at Ang Mo Kio Police Division Headquarters (F Division) from August 2002 to August 2004.

The first victim, now aged 42, served his National Service (NS) there as a crime administrative clerk at the time of the offence in 2003.

Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) Tay Jia En and Gladys Lim said: “Prior to the offence, (the first victim) respected the accused and had a positive view of him because he had witnessed the accused standing up for the police NSFs in the crime registry who were working under the accused.” 

Sometime that year, while the first victim was seated alone in a conference room collecting some investigation papers, Singh entered the room and closed the door behind him.

He stood behind the victim and massaged his shoulders while telling him that he was attracted to him.

Singh then kissed the top of the victim’s head while touching the victim's private parts over his clothes for a few seconds without consent.

“He did not know how to react as he was being touched by his supervisor. He also did not think that men would be the subject of such offences,” the prosecution said.

The victim left the room, feeling shocked and helpless, but did not report the matter because he was concerned that the completion of his NS may be jeopardised if he reported Singh, who was his supervisor and approving leave officer.

Sometime between 2005 and 2006, the second victim was posted to the Security and Inspectorate Regulatory Department (SIRD) as part of his NS. Singh was posted there as head of compliance management.

Singh reached out to the second victim’s direct supervisor and asked for the NSF to be attached to his team to assist him in conducting an outfield audit.

At one point, the second victim was in a police saloon car with Singh. He was seated at the front passenger seat while Singh was the driver.

While he was driving, Singh placed his left hand on the victim’s groin area and caressed the victim's private parts over the trousers.

Singh withdrew his hand when the NSF said that he was uncomfortable about the action, but he did it again later.

“(The second victim) felt angry and outraged by the accused’s actions but chose to keep quiet as the accused was his supervisor and senior officer,” the prosecution said.

It added that the victim felt “embarrassed, ashamed, and humiliated as he was physically strong yet felt that he allowed the accused to touch him in that manner”.

Court documents stated that the police were informed in December 2020 that Singh had allegedly committed the offences against the first victim during the latter’s NS days.

After Singh was arrested that month and his electronic devices were seized, 170 obscene films were found.

‘POWERLESS TO REPORT HIM’

Seeking a short custodial sentence, DPP Tay on Wednesday said that Singh had abused his position of authority as a ranking officer in the police force. He added that the victims had felt “powerless” to report him for his actions.

DPP Tay also said that there is a “concomitant need” to deter such offences, because victims of such acts would usually experience shame and would be reluctant to step forward to lodge a report, making such acts hard to detect.

He added that Singh was persistent in his act, noting that there were similar charges taken into consideration, and that the nature of the touches were “highly intrusive” since they were at the victims’ private regions, albeit over clothes.

Defence counsel Ramesh Tiwary, in pleading for a fine instead for his client, pointed to Singh’s clean criminal record before and after the offences.

He said that Singh was also not the victims’ direct supervising officer, and maintained that the touches were for a few seconds and not prolonged unlike other more serious cases.

He also said that his client would like to apologise to the two officers concerned over his behaviour.

District Judge Teoh agreed with the prosecution's position that the threshold for a custodial sentence had been crossed for the use of force offences, given the aggravating factor.

"The offences had been committed in a workplace context by a higher ranking officer against victims who were NSFs working in a hierarchical environment," she said.

For each count of using criminal force, Singh could have been jailed for up to three months or fined up to S$500, or both.

For possession of obscene films, he could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$20,000, or both.