A 29-year-old female Indonesian domestic worker in Singapore was sentenced to eight years and 10 months' jail on Jul. 31 after she forced an intellectually disabled man, now 57, to have sex with her in 2022.

According to court documents, she committed the acts as she was afraid of her boyfriend in Indonesia.

He subsequently sent videos of the assaults to the man's family.

Committed offence while on video call with boyfriend

The domestic worker, who cannot be named to protect the victim's identity, was hired in March 2021 to care for the man and his wheelchair-bound sister.

He suffered from intellectual disability of moderate severity and required supervision on most daily living skills.

In 2022, she forced him to engage in sexual acts with her on two separate occasions.

The first incident occurred sometime between January and February 2022, while the second incident occurred between July and August 2022.

First incident

In the first incident, she had engaged in sexual acts with him while she was on a video call with her boyfriend.

According to court documents, she had acted on her boyfriend's instructions, and as she was afraid of making him angry.

Second incident

In the second incident, she forced the victim to perform sexual acts on her even after he specifically refused to do so.

She had approached him in his bedroom at home, pulled down his shorts and sexually assaulted him.

She later told him to go into the bathroom, where she continued doing sexual acts on the victim while he sat on the floor.

The domestic worker then told him to perform a sexual act on her, to which he refused by gesturing with his hand.

However, she did not stop and continued forcing him to comply with her.

The crime occurred while her boyfriend was watching in a video call.

She had done so as her boyfriend threatened to distribute a video of her performing sexual acts on the victim if she did not obey him.

After the assault, she told the victim to not tell anyone and also threatened to stop caring for him if he did.

Videos sent to his family

On Jan. 8, 2023, the man's family received three videos via WhatsApp — two of which were videos documenting the two incidents lasting up to 13 minutes.

The sender demanded for her return to Indonesia before her contract expiry date and threatened to distribute the videos if they did not comply.

The victim's family immediately confronted the domestic worker, who initially denied that she was the woman in the videos, but later confessed her crimes to his family members.

The man's sister, 59, made a police report on Jan. 9, 2023.

The domestic worker was arrested at around 6pm on the same day.

"The accused had abused her position of responsibility as the victim's caregiver and the trust reposed in her by the victim's family members," said Deputy Public Prosecutor, Colin Ng.

He reiterated that victims with intellectual disability deserve the fullest protection of the law.

For sexual assault with penetration, those found guilty may face jail for up to 20 years and a fine or caning.

They may face up to twice the maximum punishment if the crime is committed against vulnerable persons.

Top photo via Ruth Chai