A Singapore court heard the case of a local man who sexually tortured his then-girlfriend in 2018. Photo: gaiamoments via Getty Images
For allegedly stealing a portable phone charger and an electric scooter, a young woman in Singapore was humiliated, assaulted and sexually tortured by her then-boyfriend in front of his cousin, a series of shocking acts for which her former partner was sentenced to caning and more than 13 years of prison.State prosecutors said the man’s behavior, in 2018, was “a depraved form of sexual torture” and called for harsher punishments. Handing down his judgement on Monday, judge Dedar Singh Gill reportedly said: “There is no evidence I see of the rehabilitation prospects of the accused.” The young woman, aged 27 at the time of the abuse, was accused of theft by the two men, then 29 and 33, with whom she shared an apartment, according to court documents.She was subsequently subjected to humiliating and violent punishments, state broadcaster Channel NewsAsia reported. She was slapped and kicked around by the men after she denied stealing, suffering lacerations to her head. The men also tore her clothes off.Then came the most “depraved” act of all: two items, a whiteboard marker and cylindrical battery, were forcibly inserted into the woman’s genital area, causing her immense pain – all while her boyfriend’s cousin watched – the court heard.The next day, they assaulted the woman at a bus stop and attracted the attention of a passerby, who intervened and called the police.The woman’s ex-boyfriend pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated assault by penetration and a second charge of criminal intimidation. Now 32, he was sentenced to 13 years, seven months and 93 days in jail, and 12 strokes of the cane. The offender’s cousin was earlier given 12 months’ jail for his involvement in abusing the victim. Singapore prides itself on being one of the world’s safest countries but it is seeing a spate of violent sexual crimes – ranging from molesters on public transport, voyeurism acts carried out on university campuses as well as cases of sexual abuse and incest. In another recent crime that drew a wave of public anger, a 29-year-old local man admitted to impregnating his girlfriend’s underaged daughter, who later gave birth. Follow Heather Chen on Twitter.
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