ºÃÉ«TV

SINGAPORE: A delivery man repeatedly raped his stepdaughter from when she was 16, including in the back of his van and in his one-room flat while his wife and six other children were asleep.

When the abuse was uncovered, the victim's mother and siblings did not believe her. She could no longer live with her family and was placed in a welfare home.

The 43-year-old Singaporean man, who cannot be named by court order to protect the victim's identity, was sentenced on Tuesday (Sep 1) to 22 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane.

He pleaded guilty to four charges of rape, with another nine similar charges taken into consideration.

THE CASE

The court heard that the man lived in a one-room flat with his wife, a 42-year-old woman, and their shared children.

The woman had seven children – four with her first husband, including the victim who is her firstborn, and three with the offender.

They were married towards the end of 2015, when the victim was nine.

The family slept together in the same room, either sharing a bed or sleeping on their own mattresses.

In June 2023, when the victim was 16, she began receiving lewd text messages from her stepfather. When she refused to engage in a sex act with him, he confiscated her phone.

That same month, she accompanied him on his delivery rounds in his van. 

While they were in a car park in Tampines, the victim was sorting parcels when her stepfather raped her. He ignored her pleas to stop. 

After that, he returned the girl's phone to her.

Between July and December that year, he raped her again in the van at least five times.

He also raped the girl at home, while the rest of the family was asleep around them. The girl would give in because he threatened to confiscate her phone.

On one occasion, she cried silently and covered her face with a soft toy.

In total, between June 2023 and February 2024, the man raped his stepdaughter at least 12 times. This happened at least once or twice a month.

One time, when the teenager missed her period, he told her to eat pineapples to avoid a pregnancy or induce a miscarriage.

The man regularly demanded sex from the girl by sending her text messages, which he would delete using his cloud access to the victim's phone.

However, the girl managed to capture a screenshot in February 2024. She felt helpless throughout the nine-month ordeal and was unable to stop her stepfather physically due to his strength.

She did not tell her mother, fearing that she would not believe her.

After the last rape on Feb 13, 2024, the victim could no longer endure the assault. She confided in her boyfriend, who advised her to inform her mother.

The teenager then showed her mother the screenshot of her stepfather's messages.

Confronted by her mother, the stepfather laughed it off and denied any wrongdoing. He also suggested that it was the victim who sent him lewd messages.

The victim confided in her school teacher, who referred her to a school counsellor. The counsellor reported the incident and a police report was made.

The police seized phones from the stepfather that contained recordings and screenshots from closed-circuit television cameras he had installed in the flat, depicting the man sexually abusing the victim.

He was placed in a drug rehabilitation centre for drug consumption from March 2024 to September 2025. After that, he was transferred to Changi Prison and has since been remanded for the rape offences.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

Deputy Public Prosecutors Alexandria Shamini Joseph and Santhiya Kulasakeran sought 21 to 23 years' jail for the man, along with 24 strokes of the cane.

Ms Joseph said the man's sustained abuse fractured the family unit. Rather than receiving the support she needed, the victim was pressured to drop the case by her mother and was removed from the family's flat and placed in a welfare home.

She also had to deal with the "emotional pain of being alienated" from her mother and siblings, Ms Joseph said, adding that the man's denial of the offences contributed to them not believing her.

The man had also sent the teenager messages, desensitising her to the abhorrent nature of his acts, and took steps to isolate her by getting her to accompany him on his delivery rounds, she noted.

All the while, he manipulated the victim by threatening to confiscate her phone, knowing that this threat would work against her.

Defence lawyer Don Tan said that his client showed no lack of remorse, as he consistently maintained that he wanted to plead guilty.

He wishes to finish serving his sentence and get back with his children, Mr Tan added.

In sentencing, Justice Andre Maniam noted the abuse of position and breach of trust by the stepfather, and how the offences led to lasting damage to the family unit and to the victim.

The victim had hesitated to report the offences out of concern for her younger siblings and for how it would affect her relationship with her stepfather, the judge said.

For each count of rape, the man could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.