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SINGAPORE: An air-conditioning contractor who had gone to sleep after getting drunk at a company dinner came across a sleeping woman who had also become intoxicated during the meal and raped her.<\/p>\n
Beh Kien Tai, a 37-year-old Malaysian man, was sentenced on Thursday (Jul 23) to 11-and-a-half years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane.<\/p>\n
He pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of molestation, with another two charges taken into consideration.<\/p>\n
The court imposed a gag order protecting the identity of the victim, and names of various involved parties, including the company, were redacted from court papers.<\/p>\n
The victim, a 39-year-old Singaporean project manager, had been invited to a company dinner by the owner of an interior design company, named only as C1.<\/p>\n
The victim had previously worked there as a freelance sales associate and was friends with C1.<\/p>\n
The dinner was hosted at an office space in a redacted location on Jan 13, 2023.<\/p>\n
The victim attended along with some staff members from C1’s company, including suppliers and subcontractors.<\/p>\n
Beh was the subcontractor maintaining the air-conditioning for the unit and was also invited.<\/p>\n
Guests at the dinner consumed food and alcohol. Both Beh and the victim had beer and wine and became intoxicated.<\/p>\n
Past midnight the next day, C1 noticed that the victim was intoxicated. Together with some other women, she helped the victim to a washroom and let her rest on a blanket and pillow on the floor on the first level of the office space.<\/p>\n
The company dinner ended at around 1.30am on Jan 14, 2023. The guests made their way out of the venue, but Beh rejected an offer to be taken home.<\/p>\n
Instead, he said he would rest there for a while before driving himself home.<\/p>\n
He walked up to the loft on the second floor and lay on a bed.<\/p>\n
Before she left, C1 switched on the air-conditioner in the loft where Beh was sleeping.<\/p>\n
She texted both Beh and the victim, telling them where their respective phones were, before leaving with a staff member.<\/p>\n
At around 3am, Beh walked down to the first floor of the office space and stepped over the sleeping victim to use the washroom.<\/p>\n
After this, he lay down with the woman, molested her repeatedly and raped her.<\/p>\n
He left the unit about 40 minutes later.<\/p>\n
When the victim woke up, she tried to make calls from the office landline. At around 5am, she sent C1 a text about what happened.<\/p>\n
When C1 saw the text, she retrieved closed-circuit television footage and saw what happened. She sent the victim screenshots and the victim lodged a police report.<\/p>\n
Beh was arrested and remanded.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutors Zhou Yang and Ashley Chin sought a jail term of between 11 years and three months and 11 years and nine months, along with nine strokes of the cane.<\/p>\n
They said Beh had exposed the victim to the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and he was intoxicated at the time.<\/p>\n
The victim was vulnerable as she was intoxicated, and she felt lost, confused and fearful after the incident.<\/p>\n
For rape, he could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.<\/p>\n
For molestation, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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