Woman gets probation for failing to promptly report friend's rape to police

SINGAPORE — A woman, who failed to alert the police despite having reasons to believe that a man had raped her friend, was ordered to undergo probation for a year and nine months on March 18.

The 22-year-old woman had also committed other unrelated offences including cheating.

As part of the sentence, she has to remain indoors from 11pm to 6am every day and perform 100 hours of community service.

Her mother was also bonded for $5,000 to ensure her good behaviour.

The names of all parties linked to this case have been redacted from court documents.

On Feb 1, the offender admitted in court that she had failed to immediately give information to police about the rape. The prosecution said she was legally bound to do so.

The woman had also pleaded guilty to cheating and other offences.

The woman, the 23-year-old victim, a 19-year-old male youth and a 20-year-old man were part of a party of eight who had gathered in a room at Hotel Royal in Newton Road during the Covid-19 pandemic on Nov 28, 2021.

The teenager was identified in court documents as B1, and the 20-year-old man, B2.

The group shared eight bottles of alcoholic drinks. The documents did not disclose the outcome of the cases involving man and the teenager.

At around midnight, a hotel concierge called the room to tell them they were in breach of Covid-19 regulations. Due to safe management measures, only up to five people could gather in a group at the time.

Two people left the room, while six remained.

In the wee hours of Nov 29, 2021, the victim felt tipsy and nodded off after downing a last shot of liquor.

B2 was lying next to her on a bed when he began hugging her.

Some time between 3am and 6am, B1 carried the victim to the bathroom and B2 raped the unresponsive woman.

Court documents did not state what the other people in the room were doing at the time.

After committing the offence, B2 carried the victim out and placed her back on the bed before falling asleep.

When he woke up, he told B1 and the female offender that he had sex with the woman.

The trio agreed they would lie to the victim by claiming she had woken up before following the man to the bathroom.

The victim woke up later that morning and suspected that she had been raped when she felt pain while using the toilet.

She later asked the female offender what had happened, and the latter replied she did not know.

At around 9am, all six people left the hotel and the victim lodged a police report on Dec 1, 2021.

Separately, in March 2022, the female offender came across an Instagram advertisement for "fast cash", which directed her to a group on messaging platform Telegram.

She communicated with a man known as "London Stark", who offered her $1,000 to open a bank account.

The woman did as she was told before handing over the Internet banking details, such as her password, to him.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jing Min said that the bank had not authorised her to do so.

The woman had also deceived the bank into believing she was the sole operator of the account.

Between March 9 and 16, 2022, London Stark used the account to handle the proceeds of a scam.

The DPP did not disclose the amount involved.

On May 9, 2022, the woman opened another bank account that was also used to handle scam proceeds.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.