When she tried to avoid him, he sent her 173 threatening SMSes over four days, went to her house to look for her, and kicked at her bedroom door.

On 29 Apr, the women's ordeal was finally over.

Liao was sentenced to 21 months' jail, and fined $3,000 for what District Judge Eddy Tham described as "inexcusable" acts and outrage of modesty that was "terribly humiliating and demeaning".

Liao had pleaded guilty to five of nine charges last month ??? outrage of modesty, criminal intimidation, causing hurt, committing mischief, and causing harassment, alarm or distress.

The four remaining charges ??? including one for causing hurt to the second victim's 11-year-old son ??? were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The court ordered that both victims not be identified as the first woman was the victim of a sex crime, and the second woman's son, a minor, was involved.

But the jail sentence was of little comfort to the two victims, Malaysian Cynthia, now 43, and Singaporean Jane, now 37 (not their real names), who escaped from Liao and filed police reports against him in September and October 2006.

Jane, who has two sons aged 15 and 11, said: "Even though he has been jailed, nothing can take back what he has done to us."

They told The New Paper on Sunday that they suffered Liao's abuse for so long because he claimed to be a medium. He told them separately that they had been hexed, and the only way to be "cleansed" was to have sex with him.

Both women said that he first presented himself as a brotherly figure to gain their trust.

The New Paper first reported on them last February.

Jane's police report, filed on 30 Sep 2006, said that she first met Liao in 2000, through her then-husband Tom (not his real name).

She was going through a "marital crisis" with Tom, who suffered from depression and was prone to violent outbursts against her and their two sons, prompting her to file for divorce and take out a personal protection order against him.

She wrote in the police report that Liao claimed that Tom had used black magic on her.

He told her that she was "destined to be his spiritual wife under the instruction of god", and if she did everything he said, he would help handle her ex-husband's harassment.

Liao would then go to Jane's flat whenever he wanted to have sex.

She said that, coincidentally, whenever she tried to refuse Liao, Tom's harassment became worse.

"I followed Liao and believed everything he said," she wrote in the police report, because she feared for herself and her two sons.

Cynthia, who started working at Liao's stall in 2004, told a similar story.

She, too, had marital problems. She said Liao had convinced her that she was hexed, and had to have sex with him to be rid of the curse.

Liao was never charged with any crimes relating to having sex with either women.

Instead, in his mitigation plea, he claimed that Jane was his mistress, and that the two women were in cahoots to cheat him of his money.

But the women denied both accusations. "Just look at his face," Jane said. "Why would anyone want to have sex with him?"

Court documents revealed that Liao would frequently drink alcohol during and after work. What followed such drinking sessions were "bouts of anger and violence" against both victims.

When this started, both women said they did not dare tell anyone. They felt trapped by their own shame.

Jane's sons were also affected. Her older son told The New Paper on Sunday: "He would make me and my brother work at the coffee shops until after midnight. We did this for two years, every Saturday, Sunday and school holidays.

"Every day, he would scold us. He scolded my mother all the time. The customers would see my mother, so pathetic. That time, she looked like a robot, no time to eat.

"He told my mother, you either work for us or (your) family members will have physical harm, or you'll lose your family members forever.

"I saw him hit my brother. He also hit my mother countless times. I felt so helpless, I couldn't do anything.

"It was like hell, and my family members were like POWs (prisoners of war)."

Things came to a head on 20 Sep 2006 when Cynthia, who stayed at a work hostel, was verbally abused by Liao.

She said: "I kept thinking to myself, why is all this happening to me? How did it become like this?"

When she finally returned at 3am, Liao was at the hostel. He scolded her, followed her into her room and slapped her on the left side of her face about five or six times.

He then said he would strip her naked and let other people have sex with her.

He then forcibly stripped her naked by removing her blouse, bra, jeans and panties, and told her to get out of the room to sleep with the workers in the hostel.

Liao then fell asleep on Cynthia's bed. She spent the night lying awake in the corner.

She said: "I was in a daze. I was so scared and I didn't dare to move, so I just curled up at a corner on the floor."

The next day, when Jane saw Cynthia's injuries, the two women realised they could no longer put up with the abuse.

Jane finally confided in a woman friend, who helped the two escape from Liao several days later.

The friend, who declined to be named, said: "Cynthia's face was slapped until it was all bruised. And Jane kept crying. She lost so much weight, she looked like a ghost."

Jane stayed at the friend's house to avoid Liao, while Cynthia stayed with a relative, and went to a clinic to seek treatment for her pain and the loss of hearing in her left ear.

She was referred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where a doctor found dried blood in her left ear canal, and bruising around her left cheekbone.

It was during this period that Liao sent Jane 173 threatening and insulting SMS messages.

He also went to her house to look for her,and kicked at her bedroom door and damaged it.

Both women lodged police reports.

Jane said: "After being under his control for so many years, I think he never expected I would talk about all these shameful things. Who would believe me?

"But God knows. Every day, I prayed to God, ???Give me justice, see him put behind bars' or even if I die, I won't be able to die in peace."

Cynthia said that after she returned to Malaysia, she told her husband what happened.

"He said he can't forgive me and wants a divorce," she said.

She now lives with her 17-year-old daughter.

Jane said that throughout the ordeal, the thought of her sons kept her going.

After her escape, she got help by going to a counselling group. Her sons have also seen their school counsellors.

She has since sold her flat and changed jobs. "I have to move on with my life. I can't carry on and brood over what happened to me."

Both women said they are sharing their story so that other women would not keep quiet if they face a similar plight.

Jane said: "You need to speak up. You don't need to feel shy and keep the pain in your heart. It has already happened. Don't let there be more victims because you kept quiet."

This article was first published in The New Paper on May 4, 2008.