Two men on trial for raping or sexually assaulting woman in hotel room

SINGAPORE: A woman made plans to meet a former colleague when they were both in Singapore, but the dinner never materialised.

Instead, she allegedly passed out after drinking with her ex-colleague and his friend in a hotel room and woke up in pain, suspecting she had been raped.

The two foreign men went on trial on Monday (Sep 2) for charges of rape or sexual assault, molestation and obstructing justice by deleting messages to each other.

A gag order on their identities and the victim’s identity meant that key information identifying the men were redacted from court documents, including their names, their professions, their nationalities and other details that might identify the victim.

The prosecution had tried to get the court to lift the gag order on the two men’s identities last week, but ultimately failed.

The first accused, a 49-year-old man, is contesting three charges of molestation, sexual assault and obstructing justice.

The second accused, a 50-year-old man, is on trial for six charges including rape, molestation, possessing an intimate image and obstructing justice.

The pair have been friends for about 20 years. They appeared in court in person, wearing suits.

The court heard that the alleged victim had previously worked under the first accused, A, and continued to stay in touch occasionally. She did not know the second accused, B, personally but was aware of his “professional reputation”.

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

THE CASE

According to a set of facts agreed on by the prosecution and defence, the alleged victim asked A when he was flying to Singapore on Feb 23, 2023.

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

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

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

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

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

Ms J kissed B on the bed while A was seated in the corner of the room, a fact the prosecution and defence agree on.

The prosecutors then contend that the two men alluded to having a “threesome” sexual encounter with Ms J, but she rejected them and left for her own dinner appointment at around 6pm.

Meanwhile, the alleged victim was supposed to meet A for dinner at a restaurant. However, A asked her to buy three to four cans of tonic and head to his hotel room, the prosecutors contend.

The alleged victim then bought sparkling water from Raffles City and met A at Carlton Hotel’s lift lobby, where he took her up to the room.

According to the prosecution’s opening statement, the alleged victim will testify that A introduced her to B. The woman recognised B, as she had read his books before.

The men then invited the alleged victim to drink some alcohol, encouraging her to “bottoms up” and drink each glass at one go, the prosecutors alleged.

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

The conversation turned risque and bawdy, the prosecution claimed.

THE WOMAN’S ALLEGATIONS

The woman intended to head for dinner after finishing the drinks, but her last clear memory was having a half-glass of white wine at about 6.25pm. After this, she passed out.

She allegedly has no memory of what happened next and drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to open her eyes.

However, she alleged that someone removed her clothes and she was violated on various parts of her body, with her saying “no” many times.

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

Closed-circuit television footage showed that A left the hotel room at around 8.20pm.

At about 1am on Feb 27, 2023, the alleged victim woke up and realised she was naked on the bed with someone, the prosecution said.

She felt sore in her whole body and had a headache and difficulty breathing. She asked for the time and who the person beside her was, and B allegedly identified himself.

The alleged victim woke up again at 3am, beside B, the prosecutors alleged. She dressed herself, asking B what happened and why she was naked. She also told B that she felt she had been raped, the prosecution said in their opening statement.

According to the facts agreed on by the prosecution and defence, the woman left the hotel room with B at about 3.45am on Feb 27, 2023. A returned to the hotel soon after and called the operator, requesting fresh linen and towels.

Housekeeping then brought fresh linen to the room and removed some linen and trash.

The two men met later that morning in the hotel lobby. At about 12.43pm, A sent a message to the alleged victim stating: “Hey how are you feeling this morning? Not going to be drinking for a while now?”

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 “later this afternoon”, stating that she was “still weak”.

She went to Raffles Hospital for an examination as she wanted to know if she had been sexually assaulted. 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 the police later that afternoon.

B is accused of deleting communications he had with A, along with an image he had allegedly taken of the woman lying naked on the shower floor, sometime before the police arrested him.

As part of its case, the prosecution will be asking to admit statements made by the two men in the form of audiovisual recordings, where they allegedly admitted to the acts.

The alleged victim was the first on the stand for the prosecution. However, she did not want to testify in open, public court, so the prosecution successfully applied for her to testify in camera.

The media was therefore not allowed in for her evidence.

The court also applied a shielding measure – with a large board in place to block her view of the two men, and their view of her.

The prosecution will also be calling witnesses from Carlton Hotel, doctors and a senior consultant at the department of urology of 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 meant that she was likely intoxicated, disinhibited and with impaired judgment at the time.

The trial continues.

The penalties for rape and sexual assault by penetration are a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine or caning.