A 30-year-old Indian national in Singapore was on Friday sentenced to one year in jail for molesting a minor girl, according to a media report. Jeevenandhan Govindan pleaded guilty in a district court to one count of molesting the 11-year-old girl last year. The court also ordered him to undergo three strokes of the cane for the crime, TODAY newspaper reported. District Judge Christopher Goh said that he imposed caning not only because he molested the victim, but also because she was extremely young”.
Molestation and rape are both types of sexual assault. To molest is to make unwanted sexual contact of some sort, while rape is some type of intercourse without consent. Each word’s legal definitions vary depending on the state/country.
Molestation punishment: Those convicted of molesting a minor in Singapore can be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned, or punished with any combination of the three.
New Bill introduced last year: The rise in offences as reported in TODAY newspaper has caused a Bill introduced last year to provide for stringent penalties for three sexual offences. The law also seeks to clarify the definition of “child abuse material” or “abusive material” to include images of scantily clad minors, or close-up images of the minors’ private parts although they might be covered by clothing. The three sexual offences that will see their maximum jail terms under the Bill are to be increased are:
- Molestation, or outrage of modesty: From two to three years
- Sexual activity in the presence of a minor aged between 14 and 16, or showing a sexual image to the minor: From one to two years
- Sexual activity in the presence of a minor aged between 16 and 18, or showing a sexual image to the minor, if the offender is in an exploitative relationship with the minor: From one to two years
Underage sex: Presently, as per Singapore laws for a person to be guilty of engaging in underage sex, if the person with whom they had had sex with has to be younger than 16 years old and in such cases consent is immaterial.
Consent of minor is irrelevant: The legal age in the consent of Singapore is 16. Sex with a minor, regardless of whether the act was consented to or not, is illegal and it is a punishable offence.
Statutory rape: If the minor is a girl below the age of 14, the offense is recognise as statutory rape and is deemed to be unable to communicate consent to sex and is called Statutory rape. When found liable, the sanction impose upon one can lead up to 20 years imprisonment inclusive of a fine or caning.
Punishment for rape in Singaporean laws: The offence committed is examined from the perspective of harm caused to the victim. This will include offence-specific factors such as whether the offence was committed through an abuse of trust, or with violence. The 3 bands of punishment are segregated in offence of sexual offences of rape varies in years of imprisonment and stokes of canning. Which band an offender will come under will generally depend on the number of offence-specific aggravating factors relevant to the case. The following defence are not available to the offence of rape: Forgiveness by victim; Consent by a victim under 14
