SINGAPORE - Using a fake online profile, a hotel room attendant who had less than $23 in his bank account offered a woman $2,500 to have sex with him, and told her that she could change her mind after they meet up.

But after duping her into agreeing to meet him, Li Jiajie strangled and punched the woman, then raped her. He told her that she cannot leave his flat until he was done.

On Friday, the 32-year-old Chinese national was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of aggravated rape committed against the woman, then 28, on June 9, 2018.

The court heard that Li got to know the woman on a dating app in May 2018.

He identified himself with a fake name and used the picture of another man he found online as his profile picture.

Li told the woman that he worked as an engineer and repeatedly offered to give her $2,000 if she would have sex with him.

The woman initially rejected him, but continued chatting online with him.

Li told her that he liked her and would be good to her, and increased his offer to $2,500.

On the afternoon of June 8, 2018, the woman asked Li whether he would respect her decision if she changed her mind after meeting up, and he said he would.

When they met that night at Kallang MRT station, the woman told Li that he looked very different from his profile picture, but he said he was the same person.

After they went to his place, she asked if he was living alone, and he replied that he did not have financial means to rent the whole flat.

She then asked him for the money, and when he did not respond, she booked a Grab ride to go home, but he refused to let her leave.

When she said she would call the police, Li replied that he would tell the police that she was a prostitute.

He then pinned her down on the bed, strangled and punched her, and demanded that she take off her clothes.

The woman tried to push him away but was overpowered.

She tried to talk Li into letting her go, but he told her that she cannot leave until he finished.

After the rape, the woman left the flat in a daze and flagged a taxi. On her way home, she decided to make a police report. Meanwhile, Li repeatedly asked her to share her location with him.

Li was later arrested at his workplace.

On Friday, Li told the court he would like to apologise to the victim and her family for causing hurt to her, and asked for leniency so that he could return to China early to take care of his mother.

Justice Hoo Sheau Peng noted his remorse, but said personal family circumstances are generally not a mitigating factor.

In sentencing, the judge said the nature of the violence and hurt inflicted was a sentencing factor, and noted that Li had forcefully strangled and punched the victim.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.