Man who tried to rape tourist jailed

A nightclub patron offered to take a Taiwanese tourist to a hotel so she could rest after a night of drinking. But after they checked in, he forced himself on her and tried to rape her.

Ng Jun Xian, 21, was sentenced to seven years' jail and six strokes of the cane yesterday for sexual assault and attempted rape. He was also jailed two weeks for a separate charge of disorderly behaviour.

In sentencing Ng, District Judge Matthew Joseph noted aggravating factors in the "wanton sexual assault on the victim". He also found the assault to be "bold, brazen and despicable".

The court heard that Ng met the 23-year-old victim at Club Sonar in Orchard Hotel a few weeks before the incident in November last year, and they exchanged numbers. Ng, then 20, was doing full-time national service.

At about 2.30am on Nov 8, he sent her a text message asking her out. They met at the club and drank until 4am, when she wanted to return to her hostel in Serangoon.

But the woman, who was visiting her boyfriend here, agreed to Ng's offer to take her to another hotel after he assured her that she would be left alone to sleep. They took a taxi to Hotel 81 in Lavender Street with one of Ng's friends.

While his friend was out smoking, Ng and the woman entered a room. She lay on the bed and told Ng to leave, but he tried to kiss her, then touched her buttocks twice, pushed her down on the bed and molested her.

She struggled, shouting repeatedly in Mandarin: "Don't want, don't want, don't touch me."

Her shouts were heard by Ng's friend who went to the room and banged on the door. Ng did not respond and covered the woman's mouth, sat on top of her and tried to rape her, unsuccessfully.

After a while, she broke free. But Ng grabbed her, slapped her across her left cheek and pushed her back on the bed. In the struggle, she threw a coffee cup at Ng, who knelt in front of her soon after, and apologised.

She left the room afterwards, and a hotel worker saw her leaving in tears, with a swollen face. At about 8.30am that day, she made a police report, and Ng was arrested.

While out on bail, Ng also got into a brawl in a pub with at least five people and was arrested.

Ng's lawyer A. Rajandran told the court that his client intends to appeal against his sentence.

amirh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on October 8, 2015.
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