Teen pleads guilty to raping younger sister, among 4 brothers who sexually abused her

SINGAPORE – The youngest of four brothers who sexually assaulted their younger sister over four years pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated rape on March 12.

The 18-year-old is the second of the four brothers to plead guilty in the High Court for committing sexual offences against the victim.

He admitted that he sexually assaulted and raped the victim when he was 13 to 16 years old. Another six similar charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.

The victim, who is now 14, also has two younger sisters. She was between eight and 12 years old when she was abused by her brothers from 2018 to February 2022.

The other brothers are now between 20 and 23 years old.

By the time he began abusing her, the two eldest brothers had sexually assaulted the victim on at least one prior occasion.

His case was heard in private, which meant it was out of bounds to the media and the public.

Court documents stated that he claimed to have a “porn addiction” and that he “chose” to sexually assault the victim, instead of his other sisters, because he knew the victim trusted him and would not report him to anyone.

The prosecution is seeking nine to 10 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane. 

The case was adjourned after the judge called for a report to assess if he was suitable for reformative training.

Reformative training is a regime where young offenders are detained at a centre for at least six months and put through rehabilitation programmes.

The family lived in a flat with three bedrooms – the parents took the master bedroom, the brothers occupied another room, while the sisters shared the third.

The parents set ground rules that the brothers were not to go into the girls’ room, unless it was to comb their hair as there was no mirror in the boys’ room.

The reason for the rule was that all three girls were still young, and all four brothers were already mature.

Despite this, the youngest brother went into the girls’ room to sexually assault the victim, even when his other sisters were sleeping in the same room.

He also sexually assaulted her in their parents’ room, as well as the boys’ room.  

After each assault, he would tell her not to tell anyone about what he had done.

On one occasion in 2021, when he was alone at home with the victim, he called her into the boys’ room and raped her.

On another occasion, in December 2021, he went into the girls’ room and woke the victim up. He instructed the victim to perform oral sex on him, and she complied. He then raped her.

On Feb 10, 2022, the victim finally found the courage to tell the authorities in her school about the abuse.

This led to the Ministry of Social and Family Development being alerted, which in turn led to the lodging of a police report.

After disclosing the abuse, the victim felt bad for reporting her brothers and also blamed herself for not stopping her brothers when they sexually assaulted her.

According to a psychologist’s report, the victim’s mother expressed feelings of anger and disappointment towards the victim, and blamed her for the consequences, such as the adverse impact on the brothers’ futures. 

On Feb 5, 2024, the third eldest of the four brothers pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault by penetration.

He was 16 to 17 years old when he sexually assaulted the victim, who was then 10 to 11, in 2020.

On Feb 23, the judge called for a report to assess his suitability for reformative training.

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