8 years' jail, caning for man who sexually assaulted wife

A 38-year-old man is the first person in Singapore to be convicted of sexually assaulting his wife by penetration, earning him eight years in jail and six strokes of the cane.

The man was convicted in April of two charges of sexual assault by penetration and a charge of obstructing the course of justice, for trying to convince his wife to drop her allegations against him.

In sentencing the man on July 22, High Court Judge Hoo Sheau Peng took into account the backdrop of the couple’s tumultuous relationship, as well as the husband’s motives and intentions.

“This is not a case involving a power imbalance between the couple, and where the husband had persistently abused, isolated and mistreated his wife or abused her trust and dependency by assaulting her,” said Justice Hoo.

At the time of the assault, the couple’s marriage had been in limbo for 11 months, and the man had moved out of the matrimonial flat.

Despite living apart, they continued to have sex. Their last act of intimacy took place two weeks before the assault.

On July 12, 2020, the man insisted on moving back to the matrimonial flat, and the woman agreed to let him stay.

The following night, while they were in the master bedroom discussing their marriage, the man sexually assaulted her, ignoring her pleas to stop. 

The assault was interrupted by their son, who is now 11, coming to the door. The man stopped briefly, before resuming the assault.

The woman lodged a police report on July 14, and the man was arrested at the flat on the same day.

After he was charged in court, he made four phone calls to his mother-in-law, asking her to tell his wife to withdraw her allegations.

Justice Hoo disagreed with the prosecution that the man’s abuse of his wife’s trust increased his culpability. She said the assault appeared to be unplanned, given the couple’s relationship and the man’s intentions.

She noted that the couple appeared to have a pattern of using sex to resolve their marital issues, and that the assault on July 13, 2020, was an atypical act.

She added that the man had likely committed the assault in a misguided attempt to repair his relationship with the woman, and not with any specific intention to victimise or harm her.

The prosecution had sought 12 years to 14 years and six months’ jail and 16 strokes of the cane.

The man’s lawyer, Mr Vinit Chhabra, told the court that his client intends to appeal against the conviction and sentence.

The couple, who have two children, are still married.

Under Singapore law, rape is defined by a man penetrating the victim with his penis without the victim’s consent. It is an offence under Section 375 of the Penal Code. Rape can be committed only by men. No husband has been convicted of rape since marital immunity for rape was repealed and the law came into effect in 2020.

Sexual assault by penetration is a separate offence under Section 376 of the Penal Code. It involves penetration with a body part of the perpetrator other than the penis, or an object, without the victim’s consent. Both men and women can be prosecuted for this offence, and there is no marital immunity.

The maximum penalties are the same for rape and sexual assault by penetration.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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