SINGAPORE: A 17-year-old boy was charged in court on Friday (Jun 23) with sexual penetration of a 15-year-old girl, and instigating her to bury her dead baby 10 months later.
The teenager, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim’s identity, was handed two charges.
He is accused of one count of sexual penetration of a minor at a Housing Board flat, sometime in July 2020.
On Jun 10, 2021, he allegedly instigated the girl, who was 16, to conceal the birth of her child.
This was by secretly burying the body of her child in a front yard of a location redacted from charge sheets.
It is an offence under the Penal Code to conceal birth by secretly disposing of a dead body, whether the child died before, after or during its birth.
The boy was offered bail of S$15,000 and will return to court in August.
If convicted of sexual penetration of a minor, he could be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
If found guilty of abetting by instigating the girl to conceal the birth of her child, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.