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A 28-year-old man, Yeo Zhuo Ping, was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in prison and six strokes of the cane on Friday (Dec 6) for attempting to rape a Thai disco singer in 2018. Yeo was convicted of two counts of attempted rape and one count of attempted sexual assault following a trial.
The victim, 31 at the time, is protected by a gag order. The incident occurred in the early hours of Aug 7, 2018, shortly after Yeo and the victim met for the first time at her workplace.
The victim, a singer at a disco bar, testified that she earned commissions when customers purchased flower garlands. Yeo bought a garland for her, and they interacted over drinking games. When her shift ended at around 3am, Yeo invited her for supper. She initially agreed, hoping to maintain him as a customer, but later decided to go home due to an upcoming flight to Bangkok.
Yeo offered to escort her home, but when their car couldn’t stop directly at her residence, they walked the rest of the way. The victim recounted that Yeo began hugging and kissing her despite her attempts to push him away. She tried to flee, but Yeo restrained her and forced her into a stairwell at Kim Tian Road.
There, Yeo attempted to rape her twice and forced her to perform a sexual act. The victim, in tears, begged him to stop. Eventually, Yeo relented and fled the scene, leaving her alone.
The victim contacted her boyfriend, who found her and brought her home. She later filed a police report before departing for Bangkok. A medical examination upon her return revealed injuries consistent with sexual assault.
Police camera footage corroborated her account, showing her struggling against Yeo before being pushed into the stairwell. Yeo, however, denied the charges, claiming he was too intoxicated to remember the incident and alleged he was knocked unconscious after hitting his head.
District Judge James Elisha Lee dismissed Yeo’s defense as fabricated and emphasized the need for deterrence and public protection in sentencing. The judge also criticized Yeo for putting the victim through the trauma of testifying.
In addition to the sexual assault charges, Yeo was sentenced to four weeks' jail, fined S$8,500, and handed a 36-month driving ban for separate drink-driving and dangerous driving offenses. His sentence began immediately.
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