You may remember the highly publicised court case investigating the rape of a Malaysian woman involving three British men of Vietnamese descent in Singapore earlier this month. In case you forgot, here’s a quick recap of what transpired.
A 23-year-old Malaysian woman reportedly met Ahn Viet Trinh and his friends, Tam Thanh Khong, 22, Michael Le and Vu Thai Son, both 24, at the Ultra Singapore music festival. After chatting for a while, she asked Ahn to take her to his hotel room where they had consensual sex later that night.
After they had finished, she fell asleep in his bed. However, at around 2.30am, Anh left the room, which was when Khong, Vu, and Le, took turns raping her while she was asleep.
While Le was violating her, the woman woke up and was startled. She pushed Le away and covered herself with a blanket, allegedly telling him that she would never have sex with someone as ugly as him. Ouch.
The woman accused Anh of knowing what his friends were up to and proceeded to file a police report against him and his friends. Anh claims that he had no knowledge of what his friends were doing.
Now, after a few weeks in court, the three friends have finally been sentenced to jail after they pleaded guilty for aggravated molestation.
Khong was sentenced to six years in jail and eight strokes of the cane. Vu has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane, while Le was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ jail and five strokes of the cane.
“They objectified her, they treated her like a thing to be used and abused,” Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan stated in court. He initially sought six years’ jail for Le and seven years for Khong and Vu.
Khong, Le, and Vu, all sent apology letters to the woman, with Khong offering $5,000 (RM15,759) as compensation to show how genuinely remorseful he felt.
Thankfully, justice has been served. Let’s hope these men reflect on the error of their ways during their time in jail.
Also read: M’sian Woman Meets Guy in Singapore Club, Gets Gang-Raped by His Friends