S'porean man accused of raping woman after breaking into her house says he 'accidentally slipped' into her

The accused also claimed that the woman wanted companionship.

Matthias Ang | June 29, 2022, 01:35 PM

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A Singaporean man accused of breaking into the house of a drunk woman to rape her claimed on trial that he "accidentally slipped" during the sex act, CNA reported.

This was what Yap Pow Foo, 47, had told a police officer during investigations into the case following his arrest in January 2017, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

On Jun. 28, 2022, Yap went on trial in the High Court for one charge of rape, and another charge of house-breaking.

He is contesting the charges on the grounds that him having sex with the 39-year-old victim was consensual.

Both Yap and the victim had a mutual friend, but had not met each other prior to the events leading up to the incident.

What happened on the night of the incident?

Victim was sent home by the accused

On Jan. 29, 2017, the victim had gathered with five of her friends in her home to drink alcohol and play mahjong to celebrate Chinese New Year.

ST further reported that the six of them then headed to a karaoke lounge in Bugis after dinner, where the women drank more alcohol.

They were joined by Yap towards the end of the night.

On Jan. 30, 2017, at around 12.45am, Yap offered to drive the victim and four of her friends home.

The victim was the first to be dropped off. As she was heavily intoxicated, two of her friends had to carry her up to her apartment.

Yap also found his own way to her apartment separately, according to CNA.

When Yap and her two friends left the apartment, they were captured on closed-circuit television footage locking the door behind them.

The prosecution also noted that one of the victim's friends slipped the key under the door.

Accused returned to victim's home after sending the rest home

After sending the rest home, Yap was seen on CCTV returning to the victim's apartment at about 3.05am by himself.

The prosecution made the case that Yap had entered her apartment by retrieving the key from under her door and using it to unlock the door.

He is suspected of raping the victim while she was unconscious.

The prosecution added that the woman woke up to find Yap on top of her.

At 3.45am, Yap was seen on CCTV leaving her home.

The victim made a police report at 4.10am.

He was arrested later in the afternoon.

The prosecutors were further quoted as saying that his DNA was found on the inside of the victim's shorts, as well as on her body.

The level of alcohol in the woman was also found to be consistent with significant mental and physical impairment at the time of the alleged offence, both ST and CNA reported.

Yap claims woman wanted companionship

Yap subsequently told a police officer during the course of the investigation that the victim was looking for companionship as she had hugged him at the karaoke lounge, and given him her phone number and condominium access number.

He also admitted to the officer that he had taken off her clothes, lay down beside her on the bed, then "accidentally slipped" into her.

Yap added that the woman then told him, "I don't want."

If found guilty of rape, Yap faces up to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine or caning.

As for the charge of house-breaking, Yap faces a jail term of up to five years and a fine.

In addition, he could also be caned as he has a previous conviction of house-breaking.

The trial is still ongoing.

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