Man knocks out woman before robbing and raping her

Man knocks out woman before robbing and raping her

SINGAPORE - Imitating what he saw in a movie once, a man tried to knock out a woman by hitting her behind her neck before robbing and raping her.

Chang Kar Meng, 27, was today sentenced to 17 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for rape and robbery with hurt.

The incident happened at about 1.30am on Mar 8, 2013, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Chang, who was 25 then and a kitchen worker at a restaurant in Raffle's Place, was on his way home when he saw the victim, a 33-year-old waitress, returning home alone.

Chang, a Malaysian, decided to rob the woman. He took off his slippers and hid them in the bushes nearby, then crept up behind the woman, who was looking at her phone at the lift lobby.

Covering the woman's mouth with one hand, Chang hit the back of her neck with the other hand. Seeing that the lift was arriving at the lobby, Chang dragged the woman, who had been knocked out cold, to one side.

The Chinese daily reported that Chang took the woman's mobile phone, bag, watch, gold earrings and necklace, and silver ring, worth up to $2,200.

The newspaper reported that Chang became sexually aroused after touching the woman while robbing her. He then dragged the woman to a grass patch nearby and took photos of her exposed breasts with his mobile phone.

According to the report, the woman had regained consciousness by then, but was too afraid and pretended to be still out cold.

Chang took photos of the woman's breasts again after raping her. He then dressed her and placed her on a discarded mattress near the lift lobby before making off with the woman's belongings.

The closed-circuit television footage of the robbery and of the woman going home after the incident was shown in court today. The footage showed Chang purposely lowering his head to avoid being captured on video by the CCTV in the lift.

The footage also showed the woman weakly supporting herself and wiping tears while on her way home after the incident.

Shin Min said that the police managed to arrest Chang in August 2013.

sinsh@sph.com.sg

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