Public Prosecutor v Raj Kumar: Rape & Outrage of Modesty at Southbank Condominium
In Public Prosecutor v Raj Kumar s/o Bala, the High Court of Singapore convicted Raj Kumar of rape and outrage of modesty against a 17-year-old girl. The charges stemmed from an incident at Raj Kumar's apartment in February 2020, where he committed the offenses after the victim consumed alcohol. The court sentenced Raj Kumar to 13 years and four weeks' imprisonment and nine strokes of the cane.
1. Case Overview
1.1 Court
General Division of the High Court1.2 Outcome
Conviction of the accused on all charges.
1.3 Case Type
Criminal
1.4 Judgment Type
Grounds of Decision
1.5 Jurisdiction
Singapore
1.6 Description
Raj Kumar was convicted of rape and outrage of modesty against a 17-year-old girl at his apartment. The court sentenced him to 13 years and four weeks' imprisonment and nine strokes of the cane.
1.7 Decision Date
2. Parties and Outcomes
| Party Name | Role | Type | Outcome | Outcome Type | Counsels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Prosecutor | Prosecution | Government Agency | Conviction of the accused on all charges | Won | Poon Yirong Yvonne of Attorney-General’s Chambers Muhd Nur Hidayat bin Amir of Attorney-General’s Chambers Adelle Tai of Attorney-General’s Chambers |
| Raj Kumar s/o Bala | Defendant | Individual | Convicted | Lost |
3. Judges
| Judge Name | Title | Delivered Judgment |
|---|---|---|
| Mavis Chionh Sze Chyi | Judge | Yes |
4. Counsels
| Counsel Name | Organization |
|---|---|
| Poon Yirong Yvonne | Attorney-General’s Chambers |
| Muhd Nur Hidayat bin Amir | Attorney-General’s Chambers |
| Adelle Tai | Attorney-General’s Chambers |
| Ramesh Chandr Tiwary | Ramesh Tiwary |
4. Facts
- The accused was the owner of Don Bar & Bistro.
- The complainant, A, and B were absconded from the Singapore Girls’ Home.
- The accused hired the complainant to work at the bar.
- The police raided Don Bar on 21 February 2020.
- The accused brought the three girls to his rental apartment in Southbank Condominium.
- The accused forced the complainant to drink alcohol.
- The accused had non-consensual penile-vaginal sex with the complainant.
5. Formal Citations
- Public Prosecutor v Raj Kumar s/o Bala, Criminal Case No 25 of 2023, [2024] SGHC 265
6. Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Complainant absconded from the Singapore Girls’ Home | |
| B absconded from the Singapore Girls’ Home | |
| B started working at Don Bar | |
| Accused harboured the complainant | |
| Police raided Don Bar | |
| Accused brought the complainant, A, and B to his apartment | |
| Accused committed rape and outrage of modesty | |
| Accused harboured the complainant | |
| A lodged a police report stating that the complainant had been raped by the accused | |
| Ms. Joe interviewed the complainant | |
| Video Recorded Interview with the accused | |
| Complainant gave a statement to the police | |
| A gave a conditioned statement | |
| Trial began | |
| Judgment issued | |
| Judgment Date |
7. Legal Issues
- Rape
- Outcome: The court found that the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant did not consent to the sexual act.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
- Lack of consent
- Intoxication of victim
- Vulnerability of victim
- Outrage of Modesty
- Outcome: The court found that the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused had used criminal force to outrage the modesty of the complainant.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
- Criminal force
- Intention to outrage modesty
- Sexual exploitation
- Harbouring
- Outcome: The accused pleaded guilty to the charge of harbouring the complainant.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
- Knowingly harbouring a person who has escaped from a place of safety
- Voluntariness of Statements
- Outcome: The court rejected the accused's allegations about having been subjected to threats, inducements and / or promises by the police.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
- Threat
- Inducement
- Promise
- Credibility of Witnesses
- Outcome: The court assessed the credibility of the complainant, A, and B, considering their demeanor, internal consistency, and external consistency.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
- Internal consistency
- External consistency
- Demeanor
- Sentencing Principles
- Outcome: The court applied the sentencing frameworks for rape and outrage of modesty, considering offense-specific and offender-specific factors, and the one-transaction rule.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
- Offense-specific factors
- Offender-specific factors
- Totality principle
- One-transaction rule
8. Remedies Sought
- Imprisonment
- Caning
- Fine
9. Cause of Actions
- Rape
- Outrage of Modesty
- Harbouring
10. Practice Areas
- Criminal Law
- Sexual Assault
- Criminal Procedure
11. Industries
- Hospitality
12. Cited Cases
| Case Name | Court | Affirmed | Citation | Jurisdiction | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Prosecutor v GCK and another matter | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2020] 1 SLR 486 | Singapore | Cited for the general principles on the 'unusually convincing' standard for uncorroborated evidence. |
| Muhammad bin Kadar and another v Public Prosecutor | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2011] 3 SLR 1205 | Singapore | Cited for the burden of proof in ancillary hearings regarding the voluntariness of statements. |
| Chai Chien Wei Kelvin v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [1998] 3 SLR(R) 619 | Singapore | Cited for the definition of voluntariness in the context of statements to the police. |
| AOF v Public Prosecutor | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2012] 3 SLR 34 | Singapore | Cited for the 'unusually convincing' standard for uncorroborated evidence. |
| Teo Keng Pong v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [1996] 2 SLR(R) 890 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that the 'unusually convincing' standard means the witness's testimony alone is sufficient to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. |
| Haliffie bin Mamat v Public Prosecutor and other appeals | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2016] 5 SLR 636 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that distress demonstrated by a victim of a sexual offense in the immediate aftermath constitutes corroborative evidence. |
| Khoo Kwoon Hain v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [1995] 2 SLR(R) 591 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that repeated complaints from the same complainant have little additional evidential value. |
| Public Prosecutor v Yue Roger Jr | High Court | Yes | [2019] 3 SLR 749 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that there is no general rule requiring victims of sexual offenses to report the offenses immediately or in a timely fashion. |
| Yue Roger Jr v Public Prosecutor | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2019] 1 SLR 829 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that there is no general rule requiring victims of sexual offenses to report the offenses immediately or in a timely fashion. |
| Public Prosecutor v Mohd Ariffan bin Mohd Hassan | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2019] 2 SLR 490 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that a victim of sexual assault may not report the offense in a timely manner due to feelings of shame and fear. |
| Kwang Boon Keong Peter v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [1998] 2 SLR(R) 211 | Singapore | Cited for the standard of assessing witness credibility. |
| XP v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [2008] 4 SLR(R) 686 | Singapore | Cited for the burden of proof when the defense alleges collusion among complainants. |
| Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [2017] 2 SLR 449 | Singapore | Cited for the sentencing framework for rape offenses. |
| Kunasekaran s/o Kalimuthu Somasundara v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [2018] 4 SLR 580 | Singapore | Cited for the sentencing framework for outrage of modesty offenses. |
| Public Prosecutor v BSR | Unknown | Yes | [2020] 4 SLR 335 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that the essence of the aggravating factor of a victim's vulnerability lies in the exploitation of that vulnerability. |
| Public Prosecutor v Raveen Balakrishnan | Unknown | Yes | [2018] 5 SLR 799 | Singapore | Cited for the principle against double counting in sentencing. |
| Lai Oei Mui Jenny v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [1993] 2 SLR(R) 406 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that there must be a basis to find that the accused's personal circumstances were so exceptional as to warrant mitigating weight being accorded to his family's circumstances. |
| Mohamed Shouffee bin Adam v Public Prosecutor | Unknown | Yes | [2014] 2 SLR 998 | Singapore | Cited for the one-transaction rule in sentencing. |
| Public Prosecutor v Lim Choon Beng | High Court | Yes | [2016] SGHC 169 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that sentences for offenses that are part of the same transaction may run consecutively to reflect the accused's culpability. |
13. Applicable Rules
| Rule Name |
|---|
| No applicable rules |
14. Applicable Statutes
| Statute Name | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|
| Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) | Singapore |
| Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) s 354(1) | Singapore |
| Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) s 375(1)(a) | Singapore |
| Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) s 375(2) | Singapore |
| Children and Young Persons Act (Cap 38, 2001 Rev Ed) | Singapore |
| Children and Young Persons Act (Cap 38, 2001 Rev Ed) s 78(c) | Singapore |
| Criminal Procedure Code 2010 | Singapore |
| Criminal Procedure Code 2010 s 307(1) | Singapore |
| Evidence Act 1893 (2020 Rev Ed) | Singapore |
| Evidence Act 1893 (2020 Rev Ed) s 147(1) | Singapore |
| Evidence Act 1893 (2020 Rev Ed) s 157(c) | Singapore |
15. Key Terms and Keywords
15.1 Key Terms
- Rape
- Outrage of Modesty
- Harbouring
- Consent
- Intoxication
- Vulnerability
- Singapore Girls’ Home
- Don Bar & Bistro
- Southbank Condominium
- Video Recorded Interview
- Case Recording
- One-Transaction Rule
15.2 Keywords
- Rape
- Outrage of Modesty
- Harbouring
- Consent
- Intoxication
- Vulnerability
- Singapore
- Criminal Law
17. Areas of Law
| Area Name | Relevance Score |
|---|---|
| Sex Offences | 95 |
| Criminal Law | 90 |
| Criminal Procedure | 50 |
| Statutory offences | 40 |
| Torts | 30 |
| Administrative Law | 10 |
16. Subjects
- Criminal Law
- Sexual Offences
- Sentencing
- Evidence Law