A 58-year-old Indian national, Ramalingam Selvasekaran, was sentenced to over 14 years in prison by Singapore’s High Court on Thursday for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl twice in his provision store. The sentence, which includes additional jail time in lieu of 15 cane strokes due to his age, follows his conviction on July 7 for one count of rape and two counts of outrage of modesty.
The assaults occurred on October 28, 2021, between 4:50 pm and 5:05 pm at Ramalingam’s shop in Jurong West. The girl, who visited the store twice that day to buy ice cream, was led to a secluded area where the prosecution said Ramalingam touched her inappropriately and forced her to perform oral sex. After the incident, the girl sought help from a passerby, who alerted the police.
Ramalingam, representing himself at trial, denied the charges, claiming the girl’s testimony was unreliable and citing his erectile dysfunction as evidence he could not have committed the rape. He also questioned the lack of police camera footage and argued the girl should have sought help from someone familiar.
Justice Aidan Xu rejected these claims, noting Ramalingam’s earlier police statements admitted to hugging, kissing, and receiving oral sex from the victim. The judge found the girl’s account credible, explaining her youth and inexperience accounted for her reactions during and after the assaults.
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The absence of Ramalingam’s DNA on the victim and his medical condition did not undermine the prosecution’s case, Justice Xu ruled, citing expert testimony that oral rape was possible despite erectile dysfunction. Ramalingam’s later denials were deemed an attempt to retract his initial admissions.
Post-sentencing, Ramalingam, granted SGD80,000 bail pending appeal, unsuccessfully requested removal of his electronic monitoring tag and exemption from police check-ins. He also disputed a prosecution proposal to return SGD8 to the victim, claiming it was taken from his shop, prompting the judge to order further review of the matter.
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