Two men in court for rape or sexual abuse of a woman in a hotel room

SINGAPORE: A woman had planned to meet a former colleague while both were in Singapore, but the dinner never materialized.

Instead, she is said to have lost consciousness in a hotel room after having a drink with her former colleague and his friend and woke up in pain because she suspected she had been raped.

On Monday (September 2), the two foreigners appeared in court. They were accused of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and obstruction of justice by deleting messages from each other.

Due to a news blackout regarding their identities and the identity of the victim, key identifying information about the men has been redacted from court documents, including their names, occupations, nationalities and other details that could allow identification of the victim.

Last week, the public prosecutor's office tried to persuade the court to lift the secrecy order regarding the identities of the two men, but ultimately failed.

The first defendant, a 49-year-old man, denies three charges of sexual abuse, sexual assault and obstruction of justice.

The second defendant, a 50-year-old man, faces six charges, including rape, sexual assault, possession of an intimate image and obstruction of justice.

The two have been friends for around 20 years. They appeared in court in person and wore suits.

The court heard that the alleged victim had previously worked under the first defendant, A, and continued to have occasional contact with him. She did not know the second defendant, B, personally, but was aware of his “professional reputation”.

A is represented by Mr Chenthil Kumarasingam and Ms Harjeet Kaur Dhaliwal of Withers KhattarWong, while B is represented by Mr Eugene Thuraisingam and Mr Johannes Hadi of Mr Thuraisingam's law firm.

THE CASE

According to a statement of facts agreed by the prosecution and the defense, the alleged victim asked A when he would fly to Singapore on February 23, 2023.

She said she was also in the country and asked if they would be taking the same flight. A suggested meeting for dinner in Singapore and later plans were made.

On 24 and 25 February, A and B checked into different rooms at the Carlton Hotel in Bras Basah. A was scheduled to meet the alleged victim for dinner on 26 February 2023.

According to the prosecution, A and B drank alcohol in B's room that afternoon and shared a portion of Viagra.

Between 5.11pm and 6pm, they were joined by B's friend, known only as Ms J, a 52-year-old foreign teacher working in Singapore.

Ms. J met B in 2022 through a dating app and had a “casual intimate relationship” in the past.

Mrs. J kissed B on the bed while A sat in the corner of the room; the prosecution and the defense agree on this.

Prosecutors further allege that the two men implied they had a sexual threesome with Ms. J, but that she rejected them and left for her own dinner date around 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, the alleged victim wanted to meet A for dinner at a restaurant. However, A asked her to buy three to four cans of tonic and go with her to his hotel room, prosecutors claim.

The alleged victim then bought mineral water at Raffles City and met A in the elevator lobby of the Carlton Hotel, where he took her to her room.

According to the prosecution's opening statement, the alleged victim will testify that A introduced her to B. The woman recognized B because she had previously read his books.

The men then asked the alleged victim to drink some alcohol and told her to say “cheers” and drink each glass in one go, prosecutors alleged.

The alcohol content of the gin and white wine poured into the glasses was 47.3 percent and 13 percent respectively.

The conversation had become daring and indecent, the public prosecutor claimed.

The woman’s allegations

After finishing her drinks, the woman planned to go to dinner, but her last clear memory was of drinking half a glass of white wine at around 6:25 p.m., after which she became unconscious.

Apparently she cannot remember what happened next and temporarily lost consciousness and was unable to open her eyes.

However, she claimed that someone had taken off her clothes and abused various parts of her body, during which she said “no” several times.

She also remembered vomiting in the toilet while someone held her from behind and lying naked on the floor of the stall while someone showered her.

Surveillance camera footage showed A leaving the hotel room at around 8:20 p.m.

On February 27, 2023, the alleged victim woke up around 1 a.m. to find herself lying naked on the bed with someone, prosecutors said.

She had pain all over her body, a headache and difficulty breathing. She asked what time it was and who the person next to her was, and B is said to have answered.

The alleged victim woke up next to B at 3 a.m., prosecutors alleged. She got dressed and asked B what had happened and why she was naked. She also told B that she felt raped, the prosecution said in its opening statement.

According to the facts presented by the prosecution and the defense, the woman left the hotel room together with B on February 27, 2023 at around 3:45 a.m. A returned to the hotel shortly thereafter, called the switchboard and asked for fresh bed linen and towels.

Housekeeping then brought fresh bed linen to the room and removed some of the laundry and garbage.

The two men met later that morning in the hotel lobby. At around 12:43 p.m., A sent the alleged victim a message saying, “Hey, how are you feeling this morning? Are you going to be going without a drink for a while?”

The woman replied, “(redacted), can you explain to me what happened last night?”

A replied: “Yes, definitely. Do you want to meet for coffee later?”

The woman said she died “this afternoon” and said she was “still weak.”

She went to Raffles Hospital for a check-up to know if she had been sexually abused. She was referred to KK Women's and Children's Hospital, which reported the case to the police.

The two men met for lunch at a restaurant in Raffles City before returning to the hotel, where they were arrested by police later that afternoon.

B is accused of deleting communications with A as well as a picture he allegedly took of the woman lying naked on the shower floor sometime before his arrest by the police.

In its indictment, the public prosecutor will request the submission of statements from the two men in the form of video and audio recordings in which they allegedly admitted to the crimes.

The alleged victim was the first to take the stand for the prosecution, but because she did not want to testify in an open, public court, the prosecution successfully requested that she be allowed to testify in camera.

The media were therefore denied access to her statement.

The court also took a shielding measure: a large board blocked her view of the two men and their view of her.

The prosecution will also call witnesses from the Carlton Hotel, doctors and a senior consultant from the urology department at Changi General Hospital.

A senior consultant from the Institute of Mental Health's Department of Forensic Psychiatry will testify for the prosecution that the alleged victim's estimated blood alcohol content suggests she was probably drunk, disinhibited and had impaired judgement at the time of the incident.

The process continues.

Rape and sexual abuse through penetration are punishable by prison sentences of up to 20 years and fines or caning.