12 years' jail, caning for man who raped woman he befriended on chat app with fake profile

SINGAPORE — Despite having only around S$20 in his bank account, Li Jiajie offered S$2,000 to a woman he befriended on a messaging app for sex, upping it to S$2,500 when she initially declined.

When the woman eventually met him in person, she could not recognise him as Li had used a fake profile picture in the app. She asked to leave when he ignored her request for payment.

Instead, Li threatened to call the police to report that she was prostituting herself, then assaulted and raped her at his Upper Boon Keng Road flat.

On Friday (Oct 21), Li, a 32-year-old Chinese national, was sentenced in the High Court to 12 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to aggravated rape.

The victim, then aged 28, cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.

Li got to know her in May 2018 through a chat app, the court heard.

He used a profile photo of an unknown man he found online and told her he worked as an engineer. In reality, he was a room attendant at the Intercontinental Singapore hotel at the time.

Under this false moniker, he repeatedly sent messages to the victim, asking her to accompany him for S$2,000.

When she responded after a few days, he reiterated his request, which she understood to mean he wanted to pay her for her sexual services.

She rejected the offer, but continued to be in touch with Li. They chatted frequently over the next few days.

In this time, Li told her that he missed her, liked her and would be good to her, continuing to ask her to meet him. He also increased his offer to S$2,500.

The court further heard that because of the good impression he created on her with his profile picture and messages, the victim then agreed to meet Li in person.

She added that she would drink some alcohol with friends first in order to have the courage to meet him.

WHAT HAPPENED

On June 8, 2018, they added each other as contacts on the WeChat messaging platform. She asked to meet later that evening because she had to work overtime.

Li agreed when she asked if he would respect her decision if she changed her mind or if she wanted him to wear a condom.

While she was on the train to meet Li at Kallang MRT Station, she messaged about the money, to which Li responded that he would give it to her in cash.

He lied that he did not know how to do a bank transfer when she asked. He only had S$22.70 in his UOB account at the time, court documents showed.

Li and the victim met at the ticket gantry at the MRT station. She told him he looked different from his profile photo, but he denied this.

They went to his flat along Upper Boon Keng Road at around 1am. Li then led her into a small room and closed the door.

Court documents stated that she knew they were going to have sex.

When she asked for the money, he did not respond. At this point, the victim said that she wanted to go home.

He refused to let her leave, which prompted the victim to book a private-hire ride anyway. The driver cancelled the ride when she did not turn up at the pickup point.

She also told Li that she would call the police, but he also threatened to call the police to say she had prostituted herself.

He then pinned her down on the bed, causing her to hit her head against the wall twice. Then, he choked her by the neck and punched her forehead a few times before raping her.

GAVE IN TO RAPIST

She tried to talk him into being sympathetic and letting her go, and eventually "submitted" to his assault because she felt she had no choice.

After the rape, she took a shower, allowing him to help her because she was too afraid to resist.

He then took the lift down to the void deck with her, and warned her that if she called the police, he would see her at the police station.

She managed to flag a taxi and decided to lodge a report at Choa Chu Kang Neighbourhood Police Post. She later phoned the police for help at around 4am when she realised that the police post was not open.

When she was examined at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital later that afternoon, she was found to have bruises on her forehead and neck. Li was arrested at his workplace the same day.

An Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist found that he had no mental conditions and was not of unsound mind at the time of the offence.

On Friday, Li, dressed in a purple prison jumpsuit, told the court through a Mandarin interpreter that he would like to apologise to the victim and her family for causing hurt to her.

“Even though I have done all these wrongdoings and I admit I have done wrong, I hope Your Honour would give me a chance because I have a mother back in China waiting for me to go home. I wish I can go home early to take care of her,” he told Justice Hoo Sheau Peng.

The judge said that Li had shown remorse but added that family circumstances were generally not a mitigating factor.

Li was represented by Ms Stephania Wong and Ms Sadhana Rai through the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.

For rape and voluntarily causing hurt to facilitate the rape, Li could have been given up to 20 years' jail with at least 12 strokes of the cane. Offenders will be jailed at least eight years.