S'pore renovation contractor, 49, allegedly rapes woman in flat after she hires him to repair faulty lights

A 49-year-old renovation contractor allegedly raped a woman in her flat after she hired him to repair the faulty lights in her common toilet and kitchen.

Koh Lee Hwa went on trial in the High Court on Jul. 29 for the alleged offences in August 2021, according to The Straits Times.

He was 45 at the time of the alleged offences.

The woman's age, address and other details have been redacted from court documents to protect her identity.

Hired to repair faulty lights in flat

Court documents seen by Mothership indicated that the woman first got acquainted with Koh in 2015, when she engaged him to renovate the flat.

Over the next four years, she occasionally contacted him for renovation and electrical works.

Prior to the incident, they had last exchanged messages in 2019 about some works.

On Aug. 21, 2021, the woman contacted Koh via WhatsApp to repair the faulty common toilet light and kitchen light switch in her flat.

The next day, Koh came over to check, and repaired the kitchen light switch on the spot.

He told the woman that the common toilet light was not working due to a wiring issue in the main circuit switchboard.

Koh also said he did not have the replacement parts with him, and arranged with the woman to complete the repairs on Aug. 23, 2021.

He quoted her S$430 for the works and collected a S$200 deposit from her via bank transfer.

The alleged rape

Shortly after 11:42am on Aug. 23, Koh came back to the flat and made repairs at the common toilet.

The victim, who was alone in the flat at the time, went to the master bedroom while Koh did the repairs.

After a few minutes, Koh told the woman he had finished repairing the toilet light, and that he would be repairing the switchboard, which was in the hall.

The woman came out to inspect the repairs, and also conversed with Koh in the hall about the repair works.

Prosecutors said that in the hall, Koh pulled the woman to him and allegedly hugged her without her consent.

She was shocked and pushed him away, before returning to the bedroom.

At 12:09pm, the woman messaged two of her friends, saying that Koh had hugged her and she was scared.

She also remained inside, hoping Koh would finish the repairs quickly and leave.

A few minutes later, Koh told the woman he was done repairing the switchboard, and asked her to check the switches in the flat by turning them on.

She complied and Koh then asked her to check the bedroom.

The woman checked that the switches in the bedroom were working fine, before going into the bedroom toilet to check the light and water heater.

When she exited, Koh was standing outside the toilet. He pushed her against a dressing table and allegedly hugged her again.

Though she tried to push him away, and told him to let her go and to leave, Koh did not stop.

Instead, he allegedly pushed her onto the bed, undressed her, kissed her and touched her intimately without her consent.

The prosecution alleged that Koh then sexually penetrated her and raped her.

Despite the woman biting him on his shoulder, begging him to stop and trying to push him off, it was to no avail, said prosecutors.

Koh left the flat after the incident, sometime before 12:38pm.

Brought to hospital by friends, lodged police report

The woman remained in a daze.

At 12:36pm, she texted her friend that Koh had raped her.

Three of the woman's friends came over from about 1:46pm onwards to check on her.

They advised her to see a doctor at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), and also drove her there.

At KKH, she was referred to the police, and lodged a police report at 4:18pm about the alleged rape.

Koh was arrested on the same day at 7:55pm.

He was later charged with two counts of outrage of modesty, one count of sexual assault by penetration and one count of rape.

The prosecution said that they will be calling 26 witnesses to prove the charges against Koh.

They intend to admit evidence from the victim's three friends who can attest that she was in a state of shock and distress after the alleged rape.

The prosecution will also seek to admit statements made by Koh to the police, in which he admitted to performing sexual acts on her.

Koh's case is before the courts.

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