The general preconception of sexual crime is that it only ever happens to women. After all, we tend to only hear and read about cases of sexual abuse and rape where women are the victims and men are the aggressors. However, it would be wrong to suggest that men cannot fall victim to these predatory crimes, and worse still, many of them go under-reported due to shame and stigma.
In a recent report by South China Morning Post, the truth of this claim has been proven true after an Indonesian PhD student became Britain’s most prolific rapist.
Source: SCMP
After over four separate trials, it has been determined that 36-year-old Indonesian student Reynhard Sinaga, has been found guilty of over 150 offences, with 136 being incidents of rape on men. It is said that he would offer drunk young men a place to sleep for the night after picking them up from outside bars, before drugging them and sexually abusing them.
Source: CNN
Source: SCMP
He would also film these incidents of sexual assault and abuse on his mobile phone.
Many of his male victims are heterosexual men, which he would taunt by sending his friends messages such as ‘He was straight in 2014. 2015 is his breakthrough to the gay world hahaha.'”
Source: CNN
At a Manchester court where he is currently being charged, a judge determined that he will be put behind bars for life. A government prosecutor had harsher words to describe the vile acts committed by the man, describing him as the:
“…most prolific rapist in British legal history”
Judge Suzanne Goddard said in Manchester Crown Court said that they have rarely seen such a prolonged ‘campaign of rape’. Reynhard had initially arrived on British shores on a student visa in 2007, and currently holds two degrees in sociology and planning from the University of Manchester, and was studying for his PhD at the University of Leeds, where he was suspended after he was arrested in 2017.
Source: CNN
At the time, he was working on his thesis titled ‘Sexuality and everyday transnationalism. South Asian gay and bisexual men in Manchester.’
His own church had tried to vouch for his character, but the judge was not swayed by their input, saying that someone who could profess Christian faith would not commit such heinous crimes.
We hope that he will receive the full extent of the law’s reach, and pray that his victims will be able to find closure. We also encourage male victims of sexual assault and abuse to come forward in order to both seek help, as well as bring justice to their aggressors. As a society, the stigma associated with male victims of rape needs to come to an end to prevent further incidents like this from happening.
Also read: 3 Men Take Turns to Rape the Corpse of 13yo Girl After Brutally Slashing Her to Death
