Corpun file 26088 at www.corpun.com
The New Paper, Singapore, 8 May 2015
Crime
Man jailed, caned for molesting teen at carpark
By Elizabeth Law
A 22-year-old army regular was yesterday jailed for six months and given three strokes of the cane for molest.
Jonathan Tan Weng Keong, who holds the rank of Second Sergeant in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), had earlier pleaded guilty to molesting an 18-year-old Filipino student.
The court heard that Tan had bought some cigarettes from a convenience store at Rivervale Mall in Sengkang at about 1am on April 25 last year.
As he left the store, he noticed the victim walking towards a nearby multi-storey carpark and decided to follow her from a distance.
She was in her school uniform of blouse and skirt and wore a pair of shorts beneath her skirt.
When she sat on a kerb at the first level of the carpark, Tan approached her from behind and touched her head.
When she turned around, she saw Tan standing on her left. He then reached down and put his hand under her skirt and shorts to touch her.
When she screamed, Tan fled the scene and went home.
ARREST
The girl called her boyfriend to tell him about the molest and a member of the public helped her to call the police.
Tan was arrested three days later outside Jurong Army Camp.
In mitigation, Tan's lawyer, Mr S.S. Dhillion, said his client had only N-level education and worked as a supply supervisor in the army.
He added that his client was actually concerned about the girl and had sat beside her in the carpark to check if she was all right. But out of impulse, he put his hand under her skirt.
Mr Dhillion also said that Tan was remorseful and ashamed of his actions, and that he might now be dismissed by the SAF.
For molest, Tan could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or sentenced to a combination of punishments.
Corpun file 26053 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 12 May 2015, p.B3
Serial offender broke into flats to steal, molest women
By Elena Chong
Train driver Muhamad Nizam Ahmad, 31, faced 16 charges in court and pleaded guilty to six of them. He had trespassed into other people's homes to molest women and commit theft. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW [Web-only pic, not in printed edition]
A TRAIN driver who broke into Housing Board flats in Woodlands to molest women and steal money was sentenced to five years' jail and nine strokes of the cane yesterday.
Muhamad Nizam Ahmad, 31, pleaded guilty to six of 16 charges and had the rest taken into consideration during sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Lu told the court that at about 5am on July 27, 2010, an 18-year-old girl woke up to find Nizam kissing her on the lips and touching her private parts through her clothes.
She lashed out at Nizam who fled, dropping $20 he had stolen from her.
Ms Lu said Nizam had used a broom he found outside to fish out the key from the flat to unlock the grille gate and gain entry.
On May 14, 2011, a 28-year-old woman was shocked to see Nizam standing near her when she woke up at about 7.30am after her husband had left for work.
He jumped into the bed, covered her mouth and pinned her down before molesting her.
After a long struggle, she managed to break his hold over her mouth and screamed for help. He then ran out of the flat.
Three of the house trespass charges proceeded on took place in August and October last year and in May 2009 when he gained entry through unlocked gates and doors.
Ms Lu said Nizam, a serial offender, had targeted specific residential areas and "intruded into the victims' sanctity of space".
The offences were hard to detect and happened in the early hours of the day.
He could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or received any combined punishment for each count of molestation.
For housebreaking and theft, he could have been jailed for between two and 14 years.
Corpun file 26091 at www.corpun.com
Channel NewsAsia, Singapore, 28 May 2015
Malaysian gets 17 years' jail for robbing, raping foreign national
Chang Kar Meng had robbed the foreign national of S$2,210 in cash and items, before raping and dumping the victim at her block on Mar 8, 2013. Besides the jail term, he will also receive 24 strokes of the cane.
By Kyle Malinda
Chang Kar Meng. (Photo: Singapore Police Force)
SINGAPORE: Malaysian Chang Kar Meng, 27, was sentenced on Thursday (May 28) to a combined 17 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for robbing, making unconscious and then raping a 33-year-old foreign national.
Chang, a staff member at a Raffles Place cafe, had robbed the foreign national of a total of $2,210, including her gold necklace, handphone and about S$300 in cash. As the foreign national is a victim of a sex crime, she will not be named.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhong Zewei said that the accused had seen the victim going to her block's lift landing at Paya Lebar on Mar 8, 2013, at around 1.30am.
The accused was on the way home after his girlfriend decided not to meet him due to a long wait to treat him at a McDonald's branch. The victim, who works as a waitress, was heading back from work. As soon as the victim waited for the lift at the landing, Chang approached the victim from behind and hit the back of her neck, making her unconscious.
Chang then dragged her body to a grass patch nearby before stealing her valuables. As he was doing so, he became aroused and started fondling her breasts, before taking photographs of them.
The victim was slightly conscious at that point but remained still for fear that Chang would attack her. He then proceeded to rape her before leaving her body on a discarded mattress at her block.
DPP Zhong said it took investigators five-and-a-half months before tracing Chang's identity and arresting him on Aug 21, 2013, at his residence. Details of the investigations are not known.
The prosecutor stated that a psychiatric report revealed Chang had the urge to rape the victim as he had not had sex with his girlfriend for a week. Furthermore, he was not on good terms with his girlfriend and he had the intention of impregnating and leaving her.
Although the report revealed Chang had suffered from depression, the prosecution argued that Chang was aware of his actions at the time of the incident.
The defence, led by Sunil Sudheesan, argued that Chang's family members revealed in statements that his actions in these offences were not in line with his usual behaviour.
Justice Tay sentenced Chang to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for rape, and five years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for voluntarily causing hurt while committing robbery.
A third charge, of possessing an allegedly stolen sports bra and white dress, was taken into consideration. - CNA/kk
© 2015 MediaCorp News Group
Corpun file 26090 at www.corpun.com
The Straits Times, Singapore, 28 May 2015, p.A11
Kallang Bahru rapist jailed for 13 years
Storeman who raped woman in car and robbed her also gets 18 strokes
By Selina Lum
A STOREMAN who raped a woman in his car on a bridge in Kallang Bahru and robbed her of her handbag was yesterday sentenced to 13 years' jail and 18 strokes of the cane.
Haliffie Mamat, 24, had offered the woman a lift in his Proton Savvy in the early morning of May 4, 2013 near Clarke Quay.
The 34-year-old woman, who had been drinking alone, accepted his offer as she could not get a cab even after waiting for an hour.
She dozed off and when she woke up, Haliffie had stopped the car on a bridge at about 6.30am. He climbed over to her seat and threw her bag to the back seat. He then raped her, telling her: "You can't do anything and just enjoy."
After the rape, he drove off for a short distance but stopped again. He then opened the door on her side, kicked her out and drove off with her branded handbag.
Barefoot, dishevelled and bleeding from her elbows and knees, the woman got into the back of a taxi that stopped at a traffic junction. Crying and mumbling, she told the cabby she had been raped and asked to go to the nearest police station.
Haliffie denied raping her and disputed the items in her bag.
During the seven-day trial, he claimed that their conversation in the car turned sexual and she willingly had sex with him. He said he had only pushed, not kicked, her out of his car.
His lawyers, appointed under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, cast doubt on the reliability of the woman's testimony as well as her claim that Haliffie had grabbed her forearm and caused her hand to hit something in the car, which resulted in a bruise on the back of her hand.
On Tuesday, Senior Judge Kan Ting Chiu found him guilty of rape, rejecting his claim that the sex was consensual. But the judge amended the charge to a less serious one that did not involve any accusation that he had hurt her.
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor S. Sellakumaran sought 15 years' jail and 18 strokes of the cane, arguing that Haliffie had betrayed the woman's trust after luring her into his car and caused her to suffer trauma and pain.
Haliffie's lawyer, Mr Lionel Leo, asked for 10 years' jail and 18 strokes of the cane. He noted that his client was a first-time offender and the offences were completely out of character, as Haliffie's former wife had described him as a soft-spoken, hard-working and non-violent man.
