Man in S'pore convicted for sexually assaulting foreign domestic worker girlfriend after catching her with another man

A man in Singapore was convicted of sexually assaulting a foreign domestic worker after finding out that she had cheated on him with another man.

Hossain Mohammad Azim faced three charges, including sexual assault by penetration, criminal intimidation and obstruction of justice.

He claimed trial to the first two charges and pleaded guilty to the third.

He went on trial on Mar. 4 and was found guilty of all charges.

Background

Hossain and the 33-year-old woman, known in court documents as "C", began a romantic relationship in 2018.

They would meet on C’s rest days, where they would talk, kiss and engage in sexual intercourse.

However, problems surfaced in their relationship in 2021, particularly due to C’s involvement with another man known as Chew.

She met Chew around August or September 2021 and began a sexual relationship.

On Dec. 8, 2021, Hossain discovered the relationship and confronted C, who admitted to it.

Although C told Hossain that she wanted to continue their relationship, she continued to keep in touch with Chew and had sex with him a few days later on Dec. 13.

Caught cheating

On Dec. 14, 2021, Hossain went to the block where C was employed and spotted her with Chew at the staircase landing.

After Chew left, Hossain remained at the block and waited for C to come back out.

At about 12:01pm, C left her unit on the 31st floor to buy lunch and noticed the door to the staircase landing directly opposite was slightly ajar.

She peeked through the glass panel of the door and saw Hossain behind the door.

He then opened the door and led her to another staircase landing located next to the lift lobby.

In court, C testified that Hossain asked, “Why you do that again?”

He then slapped both sides of her face with his hands, more than five times.

C was shocked by this, as he had never physically assaulted her before.

He also used his right leg to kick her on her thigh with “full force”, causing her to fall to the ground on her buttocks.

C testified that her head had hit the railing at one point.

Sexual assault

While C was on the floor, Hossain squatted in front of her and tried to pull down her shorts, but was unable to do so as C held on to the waist of her shorts.

He then reached below her shorts with his right hand and sexually assaulted her.

He also slapped her face again.

Intimidation

After the sexual assault, Hossain tried to pull C down the staircase by pulling on her leg and threatened that he would throw her “outside the staircase”.

Upon hearing this, C was scared for her life and shouted for help.

Hossain tried to cover her mouth, but C pushed his hand away and continued to shout.

He then took C’s purse and handphone, which were on the ground, and ran out of the door of the stairwell.

Neighbours alerted

C then ran into a neighbour’s house, while Hossain went to her employer’s home to return C’s purse and handphone.

Hossain then pointed towards the lift lobby and asked C’s employer to “help” her.

He also told the employer that he and C were in a relationship.

The employer then told him to leave.

The neighbour later went over to inform the employer that C was in his flat.

The police were called, and Hossain was arrested the next day.

Trial

During the trial, the defence's version of events was different.

Hossain claimed that C had said she did not have sex with Chew on the day of the incident, as she was having her period.

Not believing her, he questioned her again, leading to C asking him to confirm that she was on her period.

He claimed he saw blood on his fingers.

He was angry and repeatedly asked C why she continued to meet Chew.

C then became angry and swore at him, leading to him slapping her several times.

Found guilty

The judge found that the prosecution had "proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt", finding C’s account of the incident to be "internally and externally consistent".

She said that C gave a "clear and detailed account" of the material facts surrounding the commission of the offences, and her testimony was supported by corroborative evidence, such as the injuries on her body.

On the other hand, the judge found Hossain's defence not credible and that he had failed to raise a reasonable doubt on the totality of the evidence.

She found that he was not a credible witness, with "absurd" and "preposterous" explanations for his inconsistent testimonies.

The judge convicted him on all three charges.

Sentencing is to be set at a later date.

Top photo by Rayson Tan on Unsplash