An Indian-origin Singaporean bar owner was on Monday sentenced to 13 years and four weeks’ jail and given nine strokes of the cane for raping a 17-year-old girl.
Raj Kumar Bala, 42, was convicted of one charge each of raping and molesting the victim and also pleaded guilty to a third charge of harbouring a fugitive under the Children and Young Persons Act, Channel News Asia reported.
Defence lawyer Ramesh Tewari said his client has sought release on bail pending the appeal, the channel reported.
The court was told that the victim was 17 years old in February 2020 when she ran away from the Singapore Girls’ Home.
He learned of a job opportunity at Bala’s Don Bar and Bistro, located on Dunlop Street in the Little India area of ​​hotels, motels and eateries, through another fugitive who was working there.
The second fugitive woman was also sexually assaulted by Bala, but the charges against her have been withdrawn for now.
The victim went to the bar for a job interview and there she met Bala, who told her about the job duties, which included serving customers and making drinks.
He offered her the role, telling her she could stay at the bar with the other fugitives.
The victim worked at the bar for a few days, but the police received information that some people had absconded and were working there. The police raided the place on the morning of February 22, 2020.
To escape the raid, the victim fled with another girl before Bala could catch her.
He took them to his residence and told them they could stay there, then drank alcohol with the girls.
He raped the victim when she was highly intoxicated and also engaged in sexual activity with another girl.
The victim left the condo in July 2020 and surrendered herself to Home, but it was only in August 2020 that she told her case worker that she had been raped.
Justice Mavis Chion noted the “considerable personal harm” caused to the victim, who blamed herself for how she became intoxicated, which led to her being raped.
The judge said her testimony in court, which was also corroborated by her ex-boyfriend, showed how trauma from her past had resurfaced, negatively impacting her wellbeing.
He said Bala knew that the victim was young and was fleeing from the police, and was dependent on him for income and shelter.
According to the report, Bala also has other charges pending against him and he has not yet decided what he wants to do about them.
The bar owner faces 22 more charges, mostly sexual offences, involving five other victims, The Straits Times reports. These charges are pending in court.
He is accused in court documents of raping and molesting a victim identified as B1, raping and sexually assaulting a victim identified as B5, and raping, molesting and threatening another victim identified as B6.
He is also accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl below the age of 16, identified as B7, and molesting and intimidating another victim, identified as B8. PTI GS RC
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
