S'porean man, 37, rapes woman, 61, at fitness corner while out on bail, gets 19.5 years' jail & caning

A 37-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 19.5 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane on Oct. 28 for raping a 61-year-old woman.

According to court documents, Imran Syafiq Mohamed Rashid committed the offence at a fitness corner in a public housing estate on May 13, 2022 between 5am and 6am.

He was out on bail for the fourth time for absconding at the time of his offence.

Imran has a history of repeated criminal behaviour, including house theft prior to the rape, traffic violations due to invalid licences, multiple assaults on his girlfriend, and more.

Went on "offending spree"

Prior to the rape on May 13, 2022, court documents stated that Imran had climbed into a third-floor unit in the same estate and stole nearly S$3,000 worth of items.

He later approached a woman, who was out for her daily exercise at the fitness corner in the vicinity.

He forced her into bushes nearby, pinned her to the ground and raped her multiple times.

He did not release her even after she pleaded with him and said she was old.

When he was done, Imran threatened to kill her family if she made a police report.

The prosecution said she was "so frightened" by the threat that she tried to stop her husband from calling the police.

Imran was subsequently arrested the same day, and was found in possession of multiple NRICs, bank cards, and other personal cards believed to have been fraudulently obtained.

Serial offender

Prior to his May 2022 crimes, Imran had committed 41 offences on 16 separate occasions between May 2020 and May 2022.

Most of these offences were committed when he was on the run from the authorities or out on bail.

The prosecution said these charges were highlighted to allow a comprehensive assessment of Imran's conduct in order to determine his overall sentence.

Drove car without licences, possessed drug utensils, misused credit cards and memberships

Imran's criminal record dated back to May 2020, when he failed to return to the Lloyd Leas Community Supervision Centre after his leave was cancelled, resulting in a month-long absence before his arrest.

In September 2020, he was charged with misappropriating multiple credit cards, ATM cards, a SIM card, membership cards, and an NRIC.

Shortly after, he was found in possession of drug utensils intended for methamphetamine consumption on Sep. 12, 2020.

While absconding from police custody between September 2020 and January 2022, he also committed numerous traffic-related offences, including driving without a valid licence or insurance, causing accidents, failing to stop, and disobeying traffic signals.

During this period, he also continued his fraudulent activities, misappropriating personal identification documents and cheating companies such as BlueSG into renting vehicles under false pretenses.

Assaulted girlfriend on multiple occasions

Imran had also repeatedly assaulted his girlfriend in 2021 and early 2022.

The assaults included punching, kicking, pulling her hair, and burning her finger with a cigarette, resulting in injuries such as rib fractures and scars.

Voyeurism and trespassing

In January 2022, Imran committed criminal trespass by entering a female toilet and climbed onto a toilet seat to peep at a 14-year-old girl in the next cubicle.

He ran away when the girl confronted him.

He was later charged with voyeurism.

On Jan. 18, 2022, he was arrested after almost one year and four months on the run, during which he had committed 33 offences.

Pleaded guilty to 10 charges

Imran has been remanded since his latest arrest in May 2022.

According to The Straits Times, he pleaded guilty to 10 charges on Oct. 27, including one each of rape and criminal intimidation against the victim, housebreaking, voyeurism, assault causing grievous hurt, cheating, three traffic-related offences, and possession of drug utensils.

The remaining 31 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Top photo via Canva