It is extremely easy to make new friends nowadays with the existence of social media because with one click of a button, both of you are immediately ‘friends’. Sometimes, these friendships can even blossom into something great in real life. But you should always practise caution if you want to meet an online friend because it’s always better to be safe than sorry!
One Malaysian woman arranged to meet a Facebook friend in Singapore and suffered detrimental consequences as a result. Her ‘friend’ in question is Yap Jun Cheng, an unemployed 26-year-old who was sentenced to 14 years in jail and 22 strokes of the cane on June 13 for three sexual offences he committed on March 4, 2013.
Straits Times reports that Yap had made friends with the young lady in 2011 and they had chatted sporadically over the years but never met in person. In February 2013, she wanted to come to Singapore to look for a job so she asked Yap for help to show her around, to which he agreed.
However, when they finally met at the Paya Lebar MRT station, he told her that he needed to go home to change out of his uniform because he was serving his national service with the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Upon reaching his home, she greeted his grandmother and waited for him in the living room while he showered.
But the 20-year-old woman was surprised when Yap got out of the shower as he was not dressed to go out. Instead, he insisted on showing her his room by pulling her in. He locked the door, told her that he liked her and asked her to leave her current boyfriend while adding that he could support her financially. That’s not the way to court a lady!
According to Channel News Asia, she rejected his advances and pushed him away, while trying to open the door but Yap pulled her away from the door with so much force that the knob broke and effectively trapped her inside. The terrified lady tried screaming for help hoping to get his grandmother’s attention, but there was no response.
He then covered her mouth with yellow adhesive tape and molested her. After that, he forced her onto the bed and raped her while telling her that he loved her and that he wanted to show how much he loved her. Yap also threatened to kill her. Fearing for her safety, she decided to comply to all the degrading acts he wanted her to do. He forced her to perform oral sex on him as well.
After that, Yap forced open the door and his grandmother came forward. However, the victim remained silent as she was afraid that Yap would harm her. She tried to leave but Yap demanded that she cook a meal for him but forced her to do so half-naked.
He only allowed her to get dressed after she nearly scalded herself with hot oil. Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) David Khoo said, “She stopped cooking when she became nauseous as her gastric problems acted up, and told the accused that she could only consume her gastric medication after she had (consumed) food. The accused then agreed to bring her out to eat and the victim began to feel that she had some hope of leaving the flat alive”.
But her ordeal was not over yet, as Yap raped her one more time in the living room before bringing her to a food centre in Bedok. They parted ways at Boon Lay MRT station as Yap insisted to accompany her there. She made her way back to Malaysia, where a relative picked her up and noticed she was shaken and terrified.
The victim relayed her ordeal to him and they went back to Singapore to lodge a police report. Yap pleaded guilty at the court and his lawyer pleaded for leniency, saying that it was not a premeditated incident but he was “overcome with temptation” after his shower, and regrets his actions on that day. Subsequently, 11 other charges against him were taken into consideration.
Thank God justice was served for this poor young lady!
Also read: Malaysian Teen Follows Her Boyfriend for Supper, Gets Gang Raped by His Friends Instead