The wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day for the bride.
Alas, this night of celebrations was utterly ruined by the whims of another man.
On Monday (19 Sep), the accused man, now 42, was sentenced to seven years in jail and six strokes of the cane after he sexually penetrated the woman without her consent.
During the verdict, Principal District Judge Victor Yeo noted that there was a certain level of deception as the woman had originally assumed that the person touching her was her lawfully wedded husband.
He was also convicted of one count of molestation.
The convict, who was the groom’s friend, cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity.
Notably, the couple have since gone separate ways, but the reason for their divorce was not mentioned in court.
What Happened?
According to the court documents, alcohol had been served during the wedding dinner in a downtown hotel in October 2016.
After the dinner concluded around 11pm, the wedded couple, alongside their bridesmaid and groomsmen, moved to the bridal suite to continue drinking.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Ng Yiwen and Goh Yong Ngee stated that the suite had a living room area that was partitioned off from the bedroom and bathroom.
One could enter the bedroom from the living room by using the sliding door.
At about 1am, the bride showered and went to sleep in the bedroom alone while the party carried on outside the living room.
The woman later woke up to the feeling of someone touching her chest behind her nightgown. That person was also performing a sexual act on her soon.
The prosecutor related that the woman realised that the touches were different from when she was intimate with her husband.
She immediately tried to see who the person was. While she could not discern the person’s face in the darkness, she could perceive the face was much bigger than her husband’s.
She asked the offender in Mandarin, “Who are you?”
When she did not receive a reply, she grew afraid and fled the room to find her husband.
The woman promptly found her husband passed out on the sofa and woke him up.
The man later came out of the bedroom and left after the woman confronted him.
Afterwards, the husband accompanied his wife to file a police report.
Offender Intends To Appeal
The fact that the man just left speaks volume of his character, or there lack of.
His defence lawyer, Edmond Pereria mentioned that the offender intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.
Ah, yes, make the victim relive the details of that sordid day again.
There are a few choice words to use here, but let’s keep it PG-13.
His bail is set at $30,000.
For molestation, the offender can be sentenced to a maximum jail term of two years or caned.
For sexually penetrating a person without consent, an offender can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
Featured Image: unsplash.com