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Man on trial for raping wife; first case since S’pore repealed marital immunity for rape
The case is believed to be the first marital rape trial after immunity for husbands was repealed with effect from Jan 1, 2020.PHOTO: ST FILE
Selina Lum
UPDATED JAN 22, 2025, 03:30 PM
SINGAPORE - A 42-year-old man who lived apart from his wife went on trial in the High Court on Jan 21 for allegedly raping her at the place where he lived.
Prosecutors said that after forcing the woman to spend the night with him, the man took her back to her place.
After his arrest, the man admitted to the sexual acts but claimed that they were consensual.
The prosecution said she did not consent to have sex with the man because she was put in “fear of injury” at the time.
The sexual acts took place after the man had physically assaulted the woman and threatened to hurt her with a metal rod, said prosecutors.
The case is believed to be the first marital rape trial after immunity for husbands was repealed with effect from Jan 1, 2020.
A gag order prohibits the publication of any details leading to identification of both the woman and the man, as well as the location where the incident took place.
Both of them are foreigners who work in Singapore.
The woman lived in a flat provided for by her employer, while the man lived elsewhere.
He faces a total of nine charges relating to the incident, which took place in November 2020.
He is contesting six charges in the current trial – two for aggravated rape, one for attempted aggravated rape, one for voluntarily causing hurt, one for aggravated outrage of modesty and one for criminal intimidation.
Three other charges, comprising two counts of voluntarily causing hurt and one count of possession of obscene films, have been stood down for now.
The couple had been living apart at their respective accommodations and had met up on two occasions to go to a hotel for sex, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Alan Loh.
On the morning of Nov 8, 2020, the man asked to meet with his wife to pass her a gift.
She initially declined. But the man showed up at the void deck of her flat, and she went down to meet him.
At the void deck, the couple had a heated quarrel after the woman rejected his present.
An altercation between them ensued, which resulted in the man snatching the woman’s mobile phone.
The woman then removed her nuptial chain from her neck and threw it on the floor.
He then took her on his motorcycle to his place. After arriving there at about 12.45pm, he entered the place via a side door and opened the roller shutters for her.
After she stepped in, he lowered the shutters.
The couple then had an argument. It is not disputed that the man slapped her left cheek.
He then showed her a pornographic video on his tablet, and commented that the woman in the video looked like her.
Setting out their case against the man in its opening statement, the prosecution said that despite the woman’s misgivings, she heeded her supervisor’s advice to follow her husband back to his place to resolve their dispute amicably.
The prosecution alleged that the man had locked the side door and roller shutters to prevent the woman from escaping.
The prosecution also accused him of slapping the victim twice, causing her to fall and chip her tooth, and her mouth to bleed.
The prosecution alleged that the man picked up a metal rod and threatened to stab the woman with it.
Out of fear, she told him she would do whatever he asked her to, said the prosecution.
The man then allegedly raped her.
The couple exited at about 6.10am.
He took her back to her place on his motorcycle.
At about 7am, she called the police to report that there had been an incident between her and her husband.
The man was arrested for rape on Nov 10.
DPP Loh said in his opening statement that the woman did not consent to sex with the man.
The woman was “labouring under fear of injury” and under the law, consent given under fear is not valid consent, said the prosecutor.
The man is defended by a team led by Mr Shashi Nathan under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.
