SINGAPORE: A 48-year-old man who raped a domestic worker outside an MRT station after tricking her into thinking that he was a police officer was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane on Thursday (Feb 26).
Sharveen Chetty, a Malaysian, pleaded guilty on Feb 4 to one charge of raping the 35-year-old Indonesian woman at the bushes outside Exit F of Little India MRT station at about 8pm on July 11, 2022.
The victim was with her friends at the time, but Chetty lured her away before he sexually assaulted her.
Two other charges – a second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer – were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Chetty had initially contested the charges in a High Court trial that began on Feb 3.
The witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial included a doctor from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital who examined the victim a day after the rapes, and forensic scientists from the Health Sciences Authority.
Chetty changed his mind and pleaded guilty on what would have been the second day of the trial.
In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill considered it aggravating that Chetty had targeted the victim because she was a foreigner who might be unfamiliar with the local authorities.
The judge rejected the defence’s arguments that the rape was not premeditated.
Citing a precedent case, he said examples of premeditation include taking deliberate steps to isolate the victim.
