Jail for man who assaulted and molested younger sister while drunk in front of family members

SINGAPORE — While drunk, a man physically assaulted his sister repeatedly until she drifted in and out of consciousness, then molested and partially undressed her. He did this in front of other family members when the sister visited their mother.

During the same incident, the man also injured two other family members and warned them not to intervene or call the authorities. One brother managed to leave the house to call for help only about three hours after the sister's ordeal. 

About a year later, the same man assaulted his wife on two occasions, breaching a personal protection order (PPO) against him.

On Wednesday (Aug 10), the 37-year-old Singaporean was jailed for 21 months after pleading guilty to one count each of outrage of modesty, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon and an unrelated offence of disorderly behaviour, as well as two counts of breaching a PPO.

Another 11 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

None of the family members, including the offender, can be named in line with a court order to protect the identity of the victim.

ASSAULTED, MOLESTED THEN ASSAULTED SISTER AGAIN

The court heard that on the evening of June 9 in 2020, the victim visited her mother at a house where the offender was drinking heavily.

While the victim was speaking to another sibling, the man went up to her and started scolding and questioning her. He then began to physically assault her when she did not reply.

He slapped and punched her in the face, strangled her and kicked her body, while threatening to assault anyone who tried to intervene.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jaime Pang said: “Due to the severity of the assault, the first victim started to drift in and out of consciousness.” 

During the assault, the man initially concentrated on beating the left side of the victim's face, then told her that "both sides of her face had to have equal swelling and injuries'', so he began hitting the right side of her face, DPP Pang added.

The man also slapped a sister for tending to the victim’s wound, before forcefully pulling the victim towards him.

He pushed her head to his crotch area, then molested her and pulled up part of her shirt, while telling her that he could either sleep with her or sell her body at Geylang, DDP Pang detailed.

The offender then continued hitting her until “he was tired and stopped”.

ASSAULTED WIFE ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS

The man also physically assaulted his wife on a few occasions in May last year.

On May 1, 2021, the man flew into a rage and accused his wife of hiding something from him when she was using her phone. He shouted vulgarities at her, punched and kicked her face several times and pulled her by her hair and T-shirt.

Two friends of the couple, who had met them to try and help them with their relationship issues, tried to intervene but to no avail. The friends then reported the case to the police.

The man again assaulted the wife on two occasions on May 24 and 26 last year. In the first incident, he hit the wife many times on her head with a hard deodorant glass bottle until she bled.

He assaulted her in her face and head and threw hard objects at her on May 26.

Before these abuse cases, the man was arrested for acting in a disorderly manner and shouting at a police officer on site on the night of April 9, 2020.

'GUILTY PLEA THE ONLY MITIGATING FACTOR'

In sentencing, District Judge Lee Lit Cheng listed various aggravating factors while pointing to the offender's guilty plea as the only mitigating factor in his “string of violence-related offences” against family members.

Among other aggravating factors, the judge highlighted how the man had specifically targeted his younger sister’s face, which is a vulnerable part of the body, and threatened to assault family members who tried to intervene.

In regards to the assault of his wife, the judge pointed to how the abuse was committed while there was an active PPO against him.

The victim was also “so afraid that she did not seek medical help” or tell anyone after the earlier incident on May 24, District Judge Lee noted.

The man’s sentence was backdated to June 2 last year when he was remanded.

For outrage of modesty, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, caned or given a combination of all three.

For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.

For causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, the man could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caning or any combination of the three.