SINGAPORE: A man who raped a foreign domestic worker in the bushes near a train station after pretending to be a police officer was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane on Thursday (Feb 26).
Sharveen Chetty, a 48-year-old Malaysian, had pleaded guilty to one count of rape on the second day of his trial. A second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer was taken into consideration.
In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill said Chetty was aware that the victim was a foreigner who might be unfamiliar with local authorities, and had targeted her on account of her vulnerable position and lack of local knowledge.
He said his acts degraded the victim, and that Chetty’s acting under the colour of office facilitated the isolation of the victim.
“The threat used under the claimed authority, which the victim believed, led her to submit to the vile acts of the accused,” said the judge.
THE CASE
At the time of the offence on the evening of Jul 11, 2022, Chetty was employed by SBS Transit as a station staff member at Little India MRT Station.
The victim had met up her boyfriend and other friends that day and was sitting on a grass patch outside one of the train station’s exits.
