Man rapes homeless girl, 12

For at least two months, she had to live in a tent with her younger sister and mother in the western part of Singapore as they had nowhere to stay.

Roslan Jaafar, a labourer for Lim Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery, became friendly with the family and visited them regularly.

But instead of helping them, he raped the then 12-year-old girl on two occasions in May 2012.

Roslan, now 41, pleaded guilty at the Supreme Court yesterday to two counts of rape.

Even though the girl consented to sex, it was considered rape as she was below 14.

Roslan also pleaded guilty to one count of sexually penetrating the child.

Two other charges - one for sexually exploiting the girl and a second count of penetrating her - will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Roslan, who was not represented by a lawyer, first got to know the victim and her sister in March 2012 when he spotted them playing with his eight-year-old son.

He later visited their tent and introduced himself to the girls' 42-year-old mother, who sold flowers for a living.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Quek Jing Feng told Justice Tay Yong Kwang that Roslan soon became close to the family.

In early May that year, he asked the mother if the victim could accompany him to buy cigarettes.

Soon after, with the woman's permission, the girl would tag along while he ran errands, including buying food and drinks.

Later that month, he picked her up at her tent on his motorcycle at around 9pm after telling her mother that he wanted to buy some cigarettes.

He took the girl to the Lim Chu Kang Hindu Cemetery and raped her.

DPP Quek said: "(He) proceeded to have unprotected sex with the victim with her consent...The victim was a virgin.

"The victim informed (him) that she found it painful but (he) responded by asking her to endure the pain."

After that, he sent her home at around 11pm.

Using a similar ruse, Roslan took the girl to a park at Sungei Kadut and raped her for the second time a few days later.

The court heard that at the end of May, he took her to the Hindu Cemetery again and sexually penetrated her.

The offences came to light when the girl's maternal uncle visited their tent on June 1, 2012.

He noticed that Roslan had taken her out and the pair had not returned after more than two hours.

Worried for his niece's safety, the 33-year-old man found her mobile phone and scrolled through it to look for Roslan's number.

While doing so, he noticed numerous text messages from the labourer, including one about "making love" to the girl, the court heard.

The uncle confronted his niece after Roslan dropped her off and left.

She broke down and told him about her ordeal.

POLICE REPORT

She was taken to Nanyang Neighbourhood Police Centre in Jurong West at around 1.40am the next day to lodge a police report.

The girl also went through a medical examination at the Singapore General Hospital four days later.

A report by Dr Parvathy Pathy from the Institute of Mental Health's Child Guidance Clinic revealed that the girl reported feeling angry, regretful, sad and ashamed about what had happened.

The New Paper understands the girl and her family members are now living with a relative.

The police arrested Roslan on Sept 17.

DPP Quek told Justice Tay he had abused his position of trust. He also stressed that the victim was a young and vulnerable girl.

During the prosecution's submissions yesterday, the court received a fax from the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas) that it was considering Roslan's application for help.

Clas provides criminal legal assistance to those unable to afford a lawyer.

Roslan said he wanted to plead guilty and would like to have a lawyer represent him.

The case was adjourned to a later date, pending the outcome of the application.

For each count of rape, Roslan can be jailed up to 20 years, and fined or caned.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Apr 28, 2015.
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