Man on trial for alleged rape of younger cousin when he was a teen

CNA

16-05-2025

SINGAPORE: A 22-year-old man is on trial for allegedly raping his younger cousin when he was a teenager.
The accused was 12 to 15, and his female cousin was eight to 11 at the time of the alleged sexual offences between 2016 and 2018.
He faces two counts of raping a minor and one count of sexually assaulting a minor.
Since the trial opened on May 5, the alleged victim has been giving evidence in a closed court. She completed her testimony on Thursday (May 15).
When the girl was younger, there was an arrangement for her to go to her aunt's house, where the accused lived, so that her aunt could take care of her while her parents were at work.
She would go to the house with her siblings and her maid, and her parents would fetch them home in the evening.
According to the prosecution, the girl's cousin first sexually assaulted her in the master bedroom of the landed house in 2013, when she was six years old and he was 10.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Daphne Lim and Benedict Chan argue that he sexually assaulted her about once a week during this period, and told her not to tell anyone.
According to them, in 2016 or 2017, the girl told her maid that her cousin had touched her. The maid advised her to tell her aunt – the accused's mother – and the girl did.
This purportedly led to a family meeting at which the accused denied touching his cousin. The arrangement for the girl and her siblings to stay at her aunt's house continued.
The prosecution's case is that after this, the accused continued to sexually assault his cousin more frequently.
The alleged sexual acts in this period form the subject of his three charges.
The prosecutors argue that in 2017 or early 2018, the girl told another maid that her cousin had touched her, and she was again advised to talk to her aunt about it.
This purportedly led to a second family meeting where it was decided that the girl and her siblings would no longer stay at her aunt's house during the day.
The alleged sexual assaults then ceased, according to prosecutors.
The girl made a police report in January 2021 stating that she was raped between 2013 and 2018. Her cousin was arrested the next day.
After the girl's testimony, 14 witnesses, including her parents, maid and a friend, are expected to testify for the prosecution.
Apart from medical and psychiatric evidence, the prosecution will provide text messages the girl is said to have sent to her friend in 2020 that were about the alleged rape.
The accused is represented by a team of lawyers from Drew & Napier.
The punishment for raping or sexually assaulting a minor under 14 is between eight and 20 years in jail and at least 12 strokes of the cane.