S'porean man forced a 13-year-old girl to drink vodka, raped her for 2 hours at Kallang park

The girl struggled throughout the incident but was unable to get away due to the size of her attacker who repeatedly pressed her down.

Andrew Koay | March 19, 2021, 06:32 PM

A 35-year-old Singaporean man has been sentenced to 28 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane after he pinned down a 13-year-old girl and raped her.

CNA quoted the judge presiding over the case as calling the offences of Muhammad Alif AB Rahim "a harrowing two-hour ordeal of rape and repeated sexual assault".

Alif had pleaded guilty to one count of raping a minor and two counts of sexual assault by penetration of a minor. Another seven charges were considered in sentencing.

The girl trusted Alif

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the offences took place on the evening of Oct. 24, 2017, when the girl was on the way to deliver items to a friend.

While passing through Kallang Riverside Park, she bumped into Alif, who suggested that they buy drinks and go to the park to chat.

The girl was only "peripherally acquainted" with Alif having met him previously in the context of a large group and did not know his name.

Trusting him, she followed the offender to a provision shop where he purchased a bottle of cola and two plastic cups.

They went to the end of a jetty at Kallang Riverside Park sometime between 9pm and 11pm where Alif took out a bottle of vodka and asked if the girl wanted some.

She declined and Alif proceeded to pour a mixture of alcohol and cola for himself which he consumed while talking about his relationship problems with the girl.

"A harrowing two-hour ordeal"

Suddenly, Alif leaned forward and kissed the girl.

Shocked, she tried to move away and use her phone, but the offender snatched it away.

Alif then sat on top of the girl, pressed her down, and began molesting her.

When she cried out, Alif forced the girl to consume his vodka by putting the bottle of alcohol into her mouth and pouring it down her throat. Some of the alcohol splashed onto the girl's face, stinging her eyes.

Over the next two hours, Alif would go on to slap the girl, rape and sexually assault her.

His acts included sodomising her and forcing her to perform oral sex on him, according to court documents.

The girl struggled throughout the incident but was unable to get away due to the size of her attacker who repeatedly pressed her down.

She also cried and shouted for help, but as they were in a secluded part of the park, no one heard her.

Too weak to stand up

After Alif had finished, he threatened the girl and told her not to tell anyone about what had happened before leaving.

The girl tried to stand up but was in too much pain and was too dizzy to do so.

She eventually crawled from the jetty to a grass patch near a toilet where she sent voice messages to her aunt, her friend, and her friend's mother asking for help.

Court documents revealed that the girl tried to go to the toilet but could not move far and ended up lying on the ground.

Alif later returned riding on a bicycle and threatened her again before he rode off to his girlfriend's house.

Found by her friends

The girl was eventually found by her friends who helped her to the toilet. Members of her family also arrived at the park.

When Alif's girlfriend was informed that he had been accused by the girl of committing rape, the pair went down to the park as well.

He denied raping the girl and said he would flee the scene if police were called as he had other pending cases. Alif also threatened the girl's grandmother, saying that if anything happened to him he would find the family and harm her.

When he saw two police officers approaching, Alif ran away.

An ambulance later arrived and conveyed the girl to KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

Alif arrested

At around 5am on Oct. 25, 2017, police officers arrived at the home of Alif's girlfriend, looking for the offender.

Alif had locked himself in his girlfriend's bedroom and later hid in a wooden cupboard when police broke down the bedroom door.

After he was arrested, he tried to mislead the police by claiming that he was wearing different clothes so that they would not be able to identify him in CCTV footage or do forensic testing on his clothes.

He also lied about what he was doing in the park, saying that he was looking for his girlfriend and never met the girl.

According to court documents, Alif would change his story a year later telling authorities that the girl had came onto him and requested the intercourse.

Traumatic incident

At the hospital, the girl was found to have abrasions and lacerations on her body, as well as tears in her hymen.

She was also assessed to have clear symptoms of trauma and had to be treated about two to three times a month; her trauma would be triggered whenever she saw other men.

A consultant at the Child Guidance Clinic found that the girl — who still thought about and was angry at the incident — experienced flashbacks whenever watching rape scenes in movies.

She also suffered from nightmares and at one point was fearful to go out alone.

A psychiatric assessment of Alif found that while his intelligence was in the "borderline range" he did not suffer from an intellectual disability, nor did he have a mental illness at the time of the offences.

Criminal history

In the prosecution's submissions Deputy Public Prosecutors David Khoo, Gregory Gan, and Chong Kee En noted Alif's criminal history; he had been imprisoned on five occasions for theft, cheating, robbery, criminal breach of trust, and sexual assault by penetration.

"In the present case, the accused callously robbed the victim of her virginity, inflicting grave suffering and distress on her," wrote the prosecution.

"The audio clips as she cried to the various maternal figures in her life make absolutely clear the heart-wrenching trauma she was undergoing as she struggled to make sense of the senseless violence that had just been inflicted upon her."

According to CNA, Alif's defence lawyer Gloria James-Civetta told the court that her client had been assaulted twice in prison while remanded and had since been put in isolation.

Justice See Kee Oon said Alif had shown no indication of remorse; he had not cooperated with the investigations and had in fact attempted to hinder them.

The judge did, however, acknowledge the offender's guilty plea, reported CNA.

For aggravated rape, the man could have been jailed for between eight and 20 years and given at least 12 strokes of the cane. The maximum penalties for aggravated sexual assault by penetration are the same.

Top image from Google Maps