Corpun file 14932

Straits Times, Singapore, 11 January 2005

Man jailed for bid to rape tipsy woman

14 years' jail for overstayer who also admits abetting another to rape yer

By Elena Chong

DRUNK after a night at a pub, a woman was squatting to vomit at a grass verge near her home when two men approached from either side of her.

Sensing danger, the 28-year-old Malaysian woman tried to rise to her feet.

But the Indian nationals, both immigration offenders, grabbed her and dragged her kicking and screaming across the void deck of her Housing Board block into an enclosed rubbish area for bulky goods.

There, V. Murugesan, 28, raped her. Manikkam, 30, who also wanted to have sex with the woman after Murugesan, could not do it.

At the same time, her cellphone rang and they heard banging on the door of the refuse dump.

Both men fled.

However, Manikkam was caught about a fortnight after the crime on March 5 last year. And yesterday, he was jailed a total of 14 years and ordered to receive 10 strokes of the cane after he admitted abducting the woman, abetting his accomplice to rape her and attempting to rape her himself.

The case against Murugesan is pending.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Chang yesterday also pointed out that Manikkam was an overstayer.

He had been convicted of illegal entry in January 2003 but before he could be sent home, he went missing on Feb 27, 2003.

On March 22 last year, 17 days after he tried to rape the woman, he was caught in Commonwealth Drive.

The woman had returned home in a taxi at about 12.10am on March 5 and alighted at a bus stop opposite Admiralty MRT station. When she arrived at her apartment block, she felt an urge to vomit and did so into a paper bag.

Suddenly the two men appeared. She tried to stand up but Manikkam grabbed her from behind.

Seeing the commotion, a woman shouted to find out what was happening and the victim told her to call the police. The woman did.

In the refuse dump, Manikkam covered her mouth with one hand and pinned her to the floor with the other while his friend raped her.

In mitigation, he told the High Court yesterday that he had too much to drink that day and blamed his friend for leading him into committing the crime. He then apologised to the woman for the physical and mental anguish he had caused her.

Justice Kan Ting Chiu, who took two other charges into consideration, noted that Manikkam, who had broken the law by remaining in Singapore, had persisted although the woman had resisted. He said: 'I am taking into account the trauma that you've caused the victim who did nothing to encourage it.'

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 14943

Straits Times, Singapore, 13 January 2005

Chatline fiend got 13-year-old girl pregnant

By Chong Chee Kin

MOHAMMAD Johan Hamzah embodies every parent's worst fears about chatlines and Internet chatrooms.

First, the jobless 22-year-old used a chatline to befriend a 13-year-old, began a relationship with her, made her pregnant, then abandoned her.

Then, a couple of years later, he forced a 20-year-old to lend him $150 by threatening to circulate topless photographs of her.

The 20-year-old customer service officer, fearing that he would carry out the threat, made a police report.

On Monday, Johan was jailed for 2½ years after pleading guilty. He will also receive three strokes of the cane.

The district court heard that Johan had met the teenager through a chatline about three years ago. Within months, they had become a couple.

Some time between February and March in 2002, he had sex with her for the first time on a staircase landing in Block 544, Bukit Panjang Ring Road.

In June 2002, they had sex again in an apartment in the same neighbourhood.

When she told him a month later that she was pregnant, he refused to be held responsible. She called off the relationship but had the baby.

Last May, Johan began a relationship with the customer service officer after they met in an Internet chatroom. During their relationship, he persuaded the woman to send him topless pictures of herself through her mobile phone.

However, in September, he told her he would distribute the pictures to his friends, post them on the Internet and even paste them on her door, if she did not lend him $150.

Unknown to her, Johan had deleted the pictures from his mobile phone. When confronted by the police, he confessed that he had threatened her to get the money.

For having sex with the underage girl, he could have been jailed for up to five years and fined a maximum of $10,000. For extortion, he could have been jailed for up to five years and caned.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Corpun file 15024

Straits Times, Singapore, 27 January 2005

Masseur gets jail, cane for molesting his customer

A MASSEUR was yesterday sentenced to nine months in jail and given three strokes of the cane for molesting one of his female customers.

PART-TIMER: Loke worked at a spa in the Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort.

Loke Seng Hay, 45, pleaded guilty to one charge of outraging the woman's modesty.

A district court heard that his 28-year old customer, a business manager, visited Essence Vale Spa in the Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort at 6pm last Aug 15 for foot reflexology.

Loke, a part-time masseur, took the woman to one of the private rooms and began working on her feet while she lay on a bed.

After about 30 minutes, the woman, who was wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, fell asleep, and her underwear was accidentally exposed as Loke massaged her right leg.

Loke then used his finger to molest the woman, which jolted her awake.

The victim realised what he had done when she saw him pulling his hand quickly back.

For his offence, Loke could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.