SINGAPORE: A man admitted on Monday (Feb 27) to aggravated rape of a woman almost twice his age, after taking medical leave to lie in wait for her two days after meeting her.
Chew Kee Hock, a 29-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty in the High Court to one charge of aggravated rape and a second charge of attempted aggravated rape.
Three other charges will be considered in sentencing. The victim’s identity and the precise location of the offence are gagged by the court.
The court heard that Chew was single at the time and worked as a health adviser.
On Aug 17, 2021, he was in a building when he went to get water from the pantry. He heard what sounded like someone showering in the women’s toilet and later saw the victim emerge.
He made small talk with her and found her “very sexy”, the prosecution said.
Two days later, Chew took medical leave and did not report to work. At about 7pm, he travelled to the same building with the specific intention of raping the victim.
He went to the toilet but did not see the victim. He tested the door and found it locked, so he tried using his house keys to open it.
He could not open the door with his main door key, but realised that his bedroom key could unlock the door.
He went inside to look at the interior, realised that the door to the toilet locked automatically when shut, and loitered outside to wait for an opportunity to rape the victim.
Around 8.30pm, the woman arrived and went inside the toilet to shower.
Chew used his bedroom key to unlock the door, peeping in and opening the door gently without the victim noticing.
When he realised the victim was showering naked, he pushed the door further open, catching the victim’s eye.
HE BARGES IN
The victim saw Chew and panicked, and Chew quickly pushed the door open with great force and barged into the toilet, slamming the door shut behind him.
He pushed the victim towards the sink by her shoulders, causing her to fall to the wet ground and hit herself on a wall.
The pair wrestled on the ground, with Chew pulling the victim’s hair and repeatedly hitting her head against the wall and wash basin.
He intended to knock her out so he could rape her. He muffled her cries with her towel and threatened to suffocate her if she kept screaming.
He then tried to force a sex act on her but was unsuccessful. While the man was trying to locate his spectacles, which had been knocked off, the victim tried to lock herself into a toilet cubicle.
However, Chew forced himself into the cubicle, damaging the lock, and pulled the victim into her previous position before forcing a sex act on her that constitutes the aggravated rape charge.
The victim managed to break free and ran naked out of the toilet, screaming for help along the corridor.
Chew propped the door open with a chair before grabbing the woman and dragging her back into the toilet.
When the victim struggled and bit his forearm, Chew pushed her head backwards against the wall, causing the victim to stop resisting out of fear.
He again attempted to force a sex act on the victim, warning her not to bite, but she would not comply.
He also indicated to the victim that he wanted to have sex with her.
VICTIM REASONS WITH HIM
The victim tried to reason with Chew. She told him, among other things, that he should stay calm, as he was a young man and that he would have to go to jail for a long time if he raped her.
Chew felt tired and left at about 9pm, leaving the victim crying on the toilet floor.
She dried herself, put on her clothes and went downstairs to report what happened. The security staff and police were later alerted, and Chew was arrested through the victim’s description as well as closed-circuit television footage.
The victim was seen by a doctor and had a bruise on her scalp, bruises on her arm and an abrasion over her lower back. Her lower chest wall was also tender.
Chew was medically examined at Police Cantonment Complex and was found to have a bite mark on his forearm, bruising on his knee and scratches on his arms and forehead.
His DNA was found on the victim’s mouth and fingernail clippings, and her DNA was found under his fingernails.
Chew was sent for psychiatric evaluation at the Institute of Mental Health. He reported watching pornography on his phone five to six times a day and masturbating up to eight times a day.
The psychiatrist found that he had no major mental illness, was not of unsound mind at the time and is fit to plead.
He confessed to his actions and cooperated with the police.
The prosecution is seeking 12 to 14 years’ jail and 16 to 18 strokes of the cane for what they called “his odious acts” in a “serious rape case”.
Defence lawyer Adrian Wee asked instead for not more than 13 years’ jail and 15 strokes.
He said his client sincerely regrets his actions and understands that they were serious and reprehensible.
The judge adjourned sentencing to a later date.