PUBLISHED ONMay 11, 2022 10:52 AMByAmierul RashidThe victim of alleged sexual misconduct, a former National University of Singapore (NUS) student, said she was at work when she found out the institution had filed a police report on her case without her consent.
This NUS graduate, Cheryl*, recounted to Vice Asia in a video interview published on Monday (May 9): "I kind of broke down during the service. I had to leave the restaurant and it triggered a panic attack."
Vice Asia is part of the American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company Vice Media.
Cheryl spoke about the case involving former Tembusu College don Jeremy Fernando, who was sacked by NUS in October 2020 after the university found that he had "an intimate association" with an undergraduate.
Having felt betrayed by her school, Cheryl said in the video that her experience with the police was also excruciatingly distressing.
"What happened between me and Jeremy Fernando was kind of a 'he said she said', [but] they used the polygraph as the solution to it. The whole process was very clinical, very cold," she recalled.
She went on to add that having to undergo the lie detector test was nerve-wracking, and this played a part in altering the results, she claimed.
Cheryl claimed that a lie detector test has the capacity to insert doubt into the mind of sexual assault survivors, making them question what their true intention was when they were with their abuser and whether they truly wanted to be physical and intimate.
"Putting a sexual assault survivor through that [polygraph] is actually a deeply scarring experience because it feels like your bodily integrity is always being watched in this entire process," she explained.
Cheryl had initially planned to only report her case to NUS and said she did not intend to meet with any police officials.
She was already terrified to let the school know about her case as she said she has "seen the university's treatment of other sexual assault survivors", Cheryl claimed.
The university taking action on her behalf not only swiped away whatever minimal agency she had left in this episode but also left her feeling powerless, she said.
In October 2020, Fernando was fired after NUS conducted an internal probe on the back of receiving two complaints alleging that he had "behaved inappropriately as a teaching staff".
According to the NUS' Office of Student Conduct, complainants have the right to report to the police but NUS is required by law to report to the police any arrestable offence.
This refers to offences under Section 424 of the Criminal Procedure of Code in which a police officer may ordinarily arrest without a warrant. They include voyeurism, outrage of modesty, and rape.
AsiaOne has reached out to NUS for more information.
When contacted, the police referred AsiaOne to a Parliament Question in 2014 regarding the use of polygraph testing in police investigations.
S Iswaran, who was Second Minister for Home Affairs at the time, responded: "Polygraph examination is one of the tools used by police to support investigation of different types of cases, including sex-related offences."
Generally, polygraph examinations are used when there are conflicting accounts provided by the parties involved, and all other investigative leads have been exhausted, he explained.
"Polygraph examination is voluntary and written consent is required from the subject."
When asked about international skepticism on the effectiveness of the polygraph procedure, Iswaran mentioned that opinions are varied on the subject.
"The practice of polygraph examinations in some countries is even admissible in courts. In Singapore, that is not the practice. But as an investigation technique, it is not uncommon internationally for it to be used to aid investigation officers in their work," he added.
Since polygraph examinations were introduced in 1991, the police have used the technique in a relatively small number of cases, Iswaran said. Between 2011 and 2013, an average of 700 polygraph examinations were administered per year — roughly one to two per cent of all crime cases reported.
In April, which was Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said that the police is taking very active steps to increase public awareness about sexual assault and what victims can do.
In 2023, a new police command for sexual crimes and family violence will be set up to oversee such cases.
*Not her real name.