SINGAPORE: While on bail for theft offences last year, a 20-year-old man sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in his home.
On Tuesday (Apr 22), Muhammad Helmi Halim, now 21, was sentenced to nine years and three weeks’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane, after he pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of theft.
Another three charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Appearing in court via video link, Helmi apologised for his offences and promised that he would not commit such crimes again.
He added that he would like to take care of his family and fiancee.
Delivering the sentence on Tuesday, Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh said: “You have committed a very, very serious offence.”
“I hope that, like what you said, this is the last time you commit an offence and that once you get out of prison, you take care of your family.”
WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that Helmi and the victim, who cannot be named due to a gag order, met sometime in June 2024 after being introduced to each other by a mutual friend.
At the time, he was out on bail after being arrested for theft offences.
Investigations revealed that he had repeatedly stolen items such as wireless earbuds, game sets and soft drinks from the same petrol station on five occasions between Jan 13 and 18, 2024.
According to court documents, he stole a total of 15 items from the petrol station, with the total value of the items amounting to S$173.70 (US$132.80). No restitution has been made.
On one occasion in June 2024, after becoming friends, Helmi and the victim spent time together late into the night with a group of friends that included the offender’s then girlfriend.
When the victim realised it was late, she did not want to return home as her mother had threatened to lock her out of the house if she returned after 11pm.
Helmi’s girlfriend offered to let the victim stay at Helmi’s house that night, and she accepted the offer.
The three of them slept on Helmi’s mattress with the offender’s girlfriend between him and the victim.
Later that month, Helmi and the victim were again hanging out with friends late at night, but this time, his girlfriend was not present.
Similar to the previous occasion, the victim did not want to go home when she realised it was around 11pm. Helmi then offered to let the victim stay over at his house again, and she accepted.
According to court documents, she felt safe about staying overnight with Helmi because she had done so before.
On their way to Helmi’s house, he asked her for sex, but the victim rejected him, and he did not repeat his request.
However, later that night, while she was sleeping next to him on the mattress, he sexually assaulted her before attempting to rape her, waking her up in the process.
She struggled to escape as Helmi pinned her to the mattress, but she was not able to do so. Helmi then raped the victim.
The court heard that she repeatedly said “it is enough” to get Helmi to stop assaulting her, but this failed to deter the offender, who continued to rape her.
She eventually gave up struggling and did not shout for help as she was scared since the accused was of a bigger build and she felt trapped in his home with nowhere to go at that time.
The next morning, the victim woke up and left Helmi’s house.
For raping a person under the age of 14, Helmi could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and up to 12 strokes of the cane.