Man who assaulted, raped mistress' daughter gets 34 years in jail and 24 strokes of cane

A 47-year-old man from Singapore, who sexually abused and raped his mistress' young daughter for seven years, has been sentenced to 34 years in jail and 24 strokes of the cane on Monday (26 February).

The accused, who cannot be named to protect the victim's identity, pleaded guilty to four charges of rape. Another 21 charges were taken into account during sentencing.

The victim who is now 15, said that she used to call that man "shu shu", or uncle. She also said that "sex with (the accused) was a daily thing".

According to the victim, the abuse began when she was around seven (in 2010). When she informed her mother about the abuse, the woman got angry with her and did not intervene. The girl finally made a police report in 2016, aged 13.

"This is one of the most heinous cases of sexual assault of a child that this court has ever seen," the prosecutors said, according to Channel News Asia.

They added that the child was so "conditioned" to the abuse that she would "automatically undress herself" whenever the accused demanded.

The victim's mother, who worked as a cook did nothing to stop the abuse her daughter was facing, the High Court heard.

The court heard that the man who was unemployed would get monthly allowance by the girl's mother, the website reported.

According to court hearings, the man told police after his arrest that the girl had seduced him and flirted with him by eating ice cream and bananas in a provocative manner.

Deputy Public Prosecutor David Khoo said that even after having a wife and a mistress, the man was not satisfied and raped the child, "robbing her of her innocence".

According to reports, the man who is married with a son was having an affair with the girl's divorced mother since 2006, Straits Times reported.

From 2010 to 2014, the girl was sent to live with the man's family during the school holidays. It was then that he began molesting her at his flat.

The girl said that she realised what the man was doing is wrong after she attended sex education classes in grade 5.

In 2014, when the accused asked the girl's mother to move in with his family, the abuse escalated to rape and oral sex.

"She felt very lousy about herself and just let the accused abuse her daily," the DPP told the court, according to Straits Times.

She was even scared and did not object to the man as he would assault his wife and the girl's mother after he used to get drunk or whenever he was angry.

In 2016, when the man's wife filed for divorce and left the flat with their son, the man moved into his lover's flat.

The girl then eventually took help from the man's wife, who referred her to a social worker and on 29 June 2016, they lodged a police report.

On learning about the abuse, the girl's mother questioned him. He reportedly claimed that he abused the girl to "exact revenge on (his ex-wife and J) for gossiping about him", Channel News Asia reported.

He then took 800 Singapore dollars ($606.66, £434.07) from the girl's mother and spent four days on the run before turning himself in on 4 July.

The DPP said the abuse created a rift between the victim and her mother.

The girl is currently living with her maternal grandmother and feels insecure about herself. She says she worries about being judged by others and "She misses her mother," the DPP said, Straits Times reported.