NSF sentenced to 12 years, 9 months for raping deaf 13-year-old girl

A 13-year-old deaf girl texted for help while being raped in a flat on the morning of November 2, 2024. The assault stopped only when the man's pregnant wife returned home and began unlocking the door. By then, the damage was done—a bite mark on the girl's neck, an injury to her forearm, and a violation that would reshape the lives of everyone involved.

The man who committed this crime was 22 at the time, a full-time national serviceman who had been absent without leave from his military posting for over a year. He knew the victim through her older brother, whom he had attended secondary school with. More importantly, his wife was close to the girl's family—a goddaughter relationship that created a web of trust. When the victim's mother needed to attend an event on November 2, she arranged for her daughter to stay overnight at the couple's two-room flat. It was the girl's first time there.

The next morning, the wife left to run errands. She was four to five months pregnant. The man then beckoned the girl into the bedroom and asked her to have sex with him. She refused. He persisted by typing messages on her phone. When she continued to say no, he offered to pay her. He molested her and pulled her toward the bed. At some point during the assault, the girl managed to secretly text his wife: her husband wanted to have sex with her. She needed help. The man then raped her. She struggled to escape but could not overpower him. Only when his wife's key turned in the lock did he stop. He told the girl to wash herself quickly in the toilet. When confronted, he lied—he claimed the girl had grown angry and taken a knife from the kitchen, that he had showered and gone to bed.

The girl did not tell the wife what had happened. She did not want to be the cause of a family breakup, and the woman was pregnant. That evening, her mother picked her up. Relatives noticed the injuries—the bite mark, the forearm wound. When questioned, the girl showed them a photo of the man and indicated he had given her the mark on her neck. Her mother called police on November 3. He was arrested that same day.

On August 5, 2026, the man—now 24—was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in jail and 12 strokes of the cane. He had pleaded guilty to aggravated statutory rape and being absent without leave. Two additional charges were taken into consideration. The prosecution had sought between 12 years four months and 13 years, plus caning. The defense had argued for 10 to 10 and a half years. Justice Andre Maniam rejected the defense's framing that the girl's deafness had not been exploited. He noted that because she was deaf, she could not hear people approaching the flat and could not call out for help. The victim's safety had been entrusted to both the man and his wife, and then to him alone when his wife left.

The man's lawyer had argued there was no evidence he had exploited the girl's disability, pointing out that despite her condition, she had communicated her refusal and had managed to text for help. The judge rejected this reasoning. He also rejected the man's mitigation plea—his claim that he had gone AWOL due to financial hardship and had taken work as a cleaner. Maniam said that national servicemen facing money troubles should inform their commanders and seek aid through proper channels, not abandon their posts. The man had spent two years in remand. His child was born while he was detained. He apologized to the victim, his wife, and his family, and said he had pursued religious counseling. The judge found none of this warranted a reduction in sentence. The crime, the circumstances, the vulnerability of the victim—these could not be softened by remorse or time served.