Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

"MP Raeesah Khan should not have shared an account that contained untruths in the House," Secretary-General of the Workers' Party, Pritam Singh, said in a statement on Monday (Nov. 1).

This was following Raeesah Khan's statement in Parliament earlier in the day where she admitted to lying about accompanying a rape victim to a police station to make a report.

Pritam Singh's statement

In Singh's statement, he said the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act gives an MP (Member of Parliament) significant freedom of speech, to the extent that what is said in Parliament cannot be impeached or questioned outside Parliament.

However, he noted that this freedom of speech does not extend to communicating untruthful accounts, even if an MP’s motives are not malicious.

Singh added that Raeesah has apologised to the Singapore Police Force, victims of sexual assault, her constituents, the Workers’ Party members and volunteers, as well as her parents.

She also shared with Singh that she wanted to set the record straight in Parliament.

"This was the correct thing to do," Singh said.

Background

Raeesah initially claimed that the rape victim whom she supposedly accompanied had emerged from the police station crying, after a police officer allegedly commented about her dressing and the fact that she had been drinking.

When Raeesah was asked to provide more details so an investigation may take place, she declined to do so as she did not wish to "re-traumatise" the person involved.

In October, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam also asked Raeesah for further details, such as when and at which police station the incident occurred.

Raeesah declined to provide more information, citing confidentiality of the person involved.

In Parliament today (Nov. 1), Raeesah admitted that she had not been present with the woman whose anecdote she had shared, and had heard the survivor share it in a women’s support group, of which she had been a member.

Leader of the House Indranee Rajah raised an official complaint, and asked for the matter to be referred to the Committee of Privileges. Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin agreed to refer the matter to the Committee.

Related story:

Top photo via CNA screengrab.