• A bus driver molested his stepdaughter when she was aged seven to 29
• She had grown used to the sexual abuse and did not speak out because her mother was financially dependent on him
• A prosecutor called it the “worst case of sexual abuse” involving molestation
• The man will be sentenced on Dec 1

SINGAPORE — He was the only father figure in her life after her biological father died, but he began molesting her when she was seven years old.

For the next two decades, she suffered frequent instances of abuse at her stepfather’s hands. She began locking her bedroom door but he could still get in because the lock was faulty.

In 2017, on her friends’ encouragement, she finally plucked up the courage to report him to the police. She had been afraid of the implications it would have on her mother who was financially dependent on him.

The stepfather, a Singaporean bus driver now aged 66, wanted to claim trial at first but pleaded guilty on Monday (Oct 12) to five counts of molestation.

He cannot be named due to a court order to protect the identity of the victim, who is now aged 33.

He was scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday but District Judge Jasvender Kaur adjourned it to Dec 1. She will consider another nine similar charges for sentencing then.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sruthi Boppana described this as the “worst case of sexual abuse involving acts of outrage of modesty to appear before the courts to date”, both due to the period and nature of the acts.

She sought the maximum 10 years’ jail, as well as 7.5 months’ jail in lieu of at least 15 strokes of the cane. Offenders aged above 50 cannot be caned by law.

Each charge of molestation carries up to two years’ jail, a fine, caning, or any combination of the three.

CALLED HIM ‘PAPA’

The court heard that the stepfather began renting a room with the victim and her family in 1990, a year after her biological father died.

He soon became a mainstay in her life. She was three years old at the time and called him “papa”.

Once, in 1999 when she suffered from constipation, she asked him for help to insert suppository medication in her anus since her mother was not home.

He did so before molesting her on her bed. She then went to the toilet to cry, feeling disgusted over what had happened.

He admitted that he was not regularly having sex with his wife and felt stressed over his finances.

From then on, he began performing increasingly lewd acts on the girl and she did not tell anyone about them for fear of reprisal. She was also afraid he would rape her.

She knew that her family was financially dependent on him, especially her mother, and “grew accustomed to the sexual abuse as it became the norm to her”, DPP Sruthi told the court.

She became resigned to her predicament, thinking that she would either kill herself or move out of the flat after turning 35, which would allow her to buy a resale flat under public housing rules.

In 2013, she confided in her younger brother about the sexual abuse and he suggested that she start locking her bedroom door. 

TOLD FRIEND SHE WANTED TO DIE

The final straw came on Feb 21, 2017. Her mother was admitted to the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital for gall stone surgery.

While alone at home with her stepfather, she locked the door. She did not know that he kept a spare key and he used it to enter her room and molested her.

She told him off but he did not stop.

She had been using her mobile phone before he entered the room so she continued sending text messages to her friends, telling one of them that she was scared and wanted to die.

The friend called her and began talking loudly, driving the man out of the room.

The victim stayed over at her friend’s place that evening, though she was still reluctant to report the matter. She finally did so two days later.

The stepfather’s DNA was later found on her shorts and underwear.

A psychiatrist assessed that the victim had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. She had coped with the abuse by reminding herself that he had not raped or penetrated her.

‘UNTOLD TRAUMA’

DPP Sruthi said that the man had subjected the victim to “untold trauma” and that the facts of the case were unprecedented.

In her impact statement, the victim wrote: “These incidents will be in me forever... I feel dirty and disgusted with myself. I am just waiting for me to die so that I can escape from the past and restart my life forgetting all those dirty memories.”

Some nights, she would wake up fearing that her stepfather was beside her and touching her, the prosecutor revealed.

“We note that she has highlighted that no amount of jail term would make a difference to her, because these incidents will remain with her forever.”

The lawyer for the stepfather, Mr Wee Hong Shern, sought six years and 10 months’ instead. Mr Wee said that his client was himself sexually abused by another man from the age of 15 to 20.

This started in Malaysia from where he used to live. He gained Singapore citizenship in 2002.

The lawyer said that his client was “truly remorseful” but conceded that there was a high degree of sexual exploitation.

The man took his job as a bus driver “very seriously”, with members of the public commending him on his politeness and safety, Mr Wee added.