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SINGAPORE \u2013 When a woman who lived overseas returned to Singapore for a visit in 2024, she met up with a friend of over 10 years at his flat, and stayed over after dinner and drinks. <\/p>\n
The meeting turned out to be a harrowing experience for the woman, who was then 30 years old.<\/p>\n
As she was leaving the man\u2019s flat in the early hours, he held her down and sexually assaulted her.<\/p>\n
On March 16, Tan Boon Seng, who is now 40, was sentenced to eight years\u2019 jail and 10 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault by penetration and one charge of aggravated outrage of modesty. <\/p>\n
Three other charges, one each for attempted rape, sexual assault by penetration and outrage of modesty, were taken into consideration during sentencing.<\/p>\n
Justice Dedar Singh Gill said the fact that a woman goes to a male friend\u2019s place to drink alcohol and stay over \u201cprovides no licence\u201d for them to engage in sexual activity.<\/p>\n
The judge considered the force used by Tan, the resulting injuries all over the woman\u2019s body, and the mental harm caused to her.<\/p>\n
Justice Gill granted a request by Tan, who is married with children, to defer the start of his sentence so that he can spend more time with his family.<\/p>\n
Tan was ordered to surrender at the State Courts on March 24.<\/p>\n
The court was told that in June 2024, when the woman returned to Singapore, she contacted Tan to ask if he wanted to meet her and he agreed to do so.<\/p>\n
On the evening of June 29, 2024, the two met at Punggol MRT station, made their way to a nearby convenience store and bought four bottles of soju.<\/p>\n
They then took a bus to Tan\u2019s flat, which was being renovated at the time. <\/p>\n
There, they sat down in one of the bedrooms, where they had dinner and drank the soju. <\/p>\n
After midnight, on June 30, they left to buy six more bottles of soju from a nearby shop, and returned to the flat to continue drinking.<\/p>\n
When the woman asked Tan if she could stay over, he agreed.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutor Rimplejit Kaur told the court that the victim decided to stay over as there was no public transport available at the time and she did not want to take a private-hire vehicle home, which was a distance away from Punggol.<\/p>\n
At about 3am, when the woman lay down on a blanket, Tan lay down beside her and tried to hug her, but she pushed his arm away and told him to move farther away. <\/p>\n
After about 20 minutes, the woman woke Tan up, and they continued drinking.<\/p>\n
At about 5am, as the woman was preparing to leave to catch the first bus, Tan began kissing her and a struggle ensued.<\/p>\n
Tan stopped her from running away and pinned her down after she fell onto the blanket. <\/p>\n
She tried to crawl out of the room, but he prevented her from escaping by using his legs to pin her shoulder down while he sexually assaulted her.<\/p>\n
After the assault, she grabbed her clothes and washed up in the toilet. <\/p>\n
Tan booked a private-hire vehicle for her and waited with her until it arrived. <\/p>\n
On July 4, 2024, the woman lodged a police report regarding the sexual assault.<\/p>\n
The DPP told the court that after the incident, the victim found herself unable to be alone and unable to function in her day-to-day activities. <\/p>\n
She experienced panic attacks at times, suffered from insomnia, and would be paranoid even when she was alone. <\/p>\n
The woman went for counselling sessions to move past the incident, the DPP added.<\/p>\n
She blamed herself for being too trusting of her friend, and also felt disappointment and despair over the man committing such acts against her, considering their longstanding friendship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n