Serial offender with erectile dysfunction pleads guilty to attempted rape of tourist in hotel room

SINGAPORE — Isa Ahmad tried to rape a tourist at the Hilton Singapore hotel in 2017 but his lawyer told the court that given Isa is suffering from erectile dysfunction, he was incapable of completing the act.

While such a condition does not prevent a sexual charge from being proffered, Mr K V Sudeep Kumar urged a district court to consider that for sentencing purposes.

Isa, 54, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Oct 23) to two charges of attempted aggravated rape and robbing a second victim of her mobile phone.  

Another charge of theft will be taken into consideration for sentencing on Nov 12.

Second Principal District Judge Victor Yeo called for a report to assess if Isa is mentally and physically suitable for preventive detention — a severe punishment imposed when the court is satisfied that a repeat offender should be locked away to protect the public.

Isa has repeatedly committed offences, mostly theft, since 1988. 

In 1994, he was sentenced to eight years of corrective training — a harsher form of imprisonment for repeat offenders — and 12 strokes of the cane for armed robbery and snatch theft.

In 2002, he was given 14 years of preventive detention and 24 strokes of the cane for robbery with hurt.

He broke the law again about half a year after being released.

His chequered criminal history clearly showed that he remains a danger to the public, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Gregory Gan, in asking for a preventive detention report to be called.

Mr Sudeep sought 12 years’ jail instead. In mitigation, he said that Isa was orphaned at a very young age and robbed people “out of necessity”.

“He’s a simpleton. Because of the demise of his parents, he left school at the age of 10... He’s from a deprived background,” Mr Sudeep added.

The lawyer also asked for Isa to be examined by a forensic psychiatrist to determine his mental state. 

Isa has been in remand since committing the offences on March 12, 2017. He cannot be caned by law as he is above 50 years old.

WANTED TO ‘MAKE LOVE’ TO HER

The court heard that he first targeted a 27-year-old woman who was in Singapore for a two-day holiday. At the time, he was working as a housekeeper at Orchard Hotel.

She cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect her identity. Her nationality was similarly redacted from court documents.

On the day of the incident, she had returned to the Hilton at about 11.30am, where she was staying in a room alone. Attracted by her dressing and looks, Isa followed her into the hotel.

Both of them got into a lift and she used her key card to get to the 16th floor. She did not notice Isa was following her until she was about to enter her room.

At that point, Isa grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with a towel. 

She tried to use her foot to stop the door from closing but to no avail.

While they struggled, she asked him why he was doing this. He replied that he wanted to “make love” to her. 

She unsuccessfully tried to scream for help and also tried to distract him by asking if he had condoms. 

He responded by pulling her towards him and attempting to kiss her.

He then dragged her onto the bed by her hair and pressed a pillow against her face while she continued to struggle.

It was only after she told him that someone was returning to the room that he fled.

She immediately called hotel security.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door. She opened the door slightly in response and found Isa at her door, asking for his towel back.

The victim shut the door and called security again, as well as a friend.

ROBBED SECOND VICTIM

After leaving the Hilton along Orchard Road, Isa stole another towel from the Grand Hyatt Singapore hotel on Scotts Road and went over to Tang Plaza where he took the lift to the topmost floor.

A 48-year-old housewife, who was also in Singapore on vacation, entered the lift on the topmost floor.

She became suspicious when Isa did not alight and stayed on in the lift.

Her suspicions grew when he pushed the button for the fifth floor and stood behind her.

When the lift door opened on the fifth floor, Isa accosted her and covered her mouth with the towel.

She managed to hit him with her handbag while they struggled, before he snatched her mobile phone when her grip on it loosened.

She managed to escape and sought help from a couple after running to an adjoining car park.

Through closed-circuit television footage, police officers identified Isa and arrested him the next day outside Orchard Hotel.