SINGAPORE: A 73-year-old former temple worker on Thursday (Aug 1) denied sexually assaulting his lover’s teenage daughter during massages and showers that he said were part of rituals to “cleanse” her of black magic or bad luck.
The Singaporean man, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the alleged victim, was testifying as part of his defence in the High Court.
He is on trial along with the 64-year-old Singaporean mother of the alleged victim, who is now 23.
The court heard that the couple had sex in front of the girl, and the girl’s mother also allegedly asked her to perform sex acts on the man.
The man is accused of sexually assaulting and molesting the girl while carrying out ritual Thai showers and massages on her on her mother’s instruction, to cure the girl’s “bad luck” and rid her of black magic.
The man is on trial for 15 charges, including sexual assault of a minor, outrage of modesty and exhibiting obscene objects to a young person.
The woman is contesting 13 charges, including conspiring with the man to sexually assault the victim and conspiring with him to procure the victim’s sexual exploitation.
PROSECUTION’S CASE
According to the prosecution’s case, the couple was having an affair when the man sexually assaulted the victim, who was referred to only as “Meimei”. She was between the ages of 10 and 16 at the time.
Meimei was the youngest of her mother’s four children. The man, a family friend, had a clinic at a temple and coached a lion dance troupe. He would go over to Meimei’s family flat to give massages to various family members.
Prosecutors charged that the man would sexually abuse the girl with his lover’s consent. The girl voiced her discomfort but her mother allegedly told her to keep quiet and obey the man.
The couple are also accused of showing pornography to the girl from when she was in Primary 4.
The girl eventually lodged a police report in November 2017, after confiding in her boyfriend.
On Thursday, the man denied multiple allegations upon questioning by his defence lawyer, Mr Edwin Lee from Eldan Law.
On the accusation of sexually assaulting the girl while bathing her in the toilet, the man claimed that there was “no space” to do so. He denied performing sex acts on Meimei while bathing her.
He described the sessions at the girl’s home, saying there would be massages the girl “wanted” before prayers and a shower.
The girl had said that the man would begin by asking if she had any pain in her body, before massaging her. She added that the man would sexually assault her after the massage.
Asked by the lawyer if he had sexually assaulted the girl, the man answered: “No la. Because if I had … she would have screamed or shouted.”
The girl said she complained about the pain to her mother, but was told it was normal and that she should let it carry on.
The man said he was not aware of this.
He also denied asking Meimei to perform sex acts on him “once or twice a week”, saying: “Is that even possible, once or twice a week.”
He explained that he added one session because his lover still found Meimei disobedient and told him to do so.
Meimei’s boyfriend had testified that Meimei told him the man had kissed her, and she had bitten his tongue until it bled.
Asked if this indeed happened, the man laughed and said: “How could she have bitten me, I was so tall?”
He agreed with his lawyer that Meimei’s mother was superstitious and believed in black magic, as she often sought divination lots at the temple and asked him to clear her daughter’s bad luck or black magic.
Meimei’s mother had said in a statement to the police that the man had asked Meimei to watch the couple having sex.
Asked if this was true, the man said no.
Asked again why the woman would have said this, he answered: “How would I know?”
MEIMEI’S ALLEGED SOURCE OF UNHAPPINESS
The man testified that there was one point where his lover took away Meimei’s phone, making the girl very unhappy as her boyfriend could not reach her.
He also said his lover did not like Meimei’s boyfriend, finding him not “a good person”, on top of being vulgar and making Meimei go home late. The woman took away the phone as Meimei did not answer her calls, and instead would use it late into the night, the man claimed.
He said his lover kept asking him to advise Meimei on this, because of his good relationship with the family.
“But in the end, Meimei became angry with me. Then how I know, it turned out that Meimei ‘sued’ me,” said the man.
Asked to clarify the Chinese word “gao”, which was translated as “sue”, the man said: “I think Meimei was probably angry with me and wanted to make trouble for me … I’m already in trouble. I was in lockup. I had to explain myself.”
He confirmed that he was referring to the current criminal proceedings.
He said he had also spoken to Meimei following her mother’s request to talk to her about another boyfriend.
“I said – he has kids, he’s so old, and he’s already divorced. You are still so young, will there be any good ending to their relationship?” said the man.
The trial continues. When the man finishes his testimony, Meimei’s mother – who is defended by a different set of lawyers – will cross-examine him.
After this, the prosecution will cross-examine the man before other witnesses for the man’s case will testify.
If convicted of sexual assault by penetration of a minor, the man can be jailed for between eight and 20 years. He cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old, and his co-accused cannot be caned as she is a woman.
The penalties for sexual exploitation of a young person are a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.
The punishment for using criminal force to outrage a person’s modesty is a maximum of two years’ jail, a fine, caning, or any combination of these penalties.