Singapore jails elderly man who put Indonesian helper into a trance to rape, molest her

Tan Jeck Tuang, 69, instructed the maid to ‘sleep’ before his sexual assaults, putting her in a depersonalised state of helplessness, the court heard

He was blasted by the judge during sentencing for exploiting his ‘power and dominion’ over his domestic helper and using her ‘as a sexual plaything’

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People gather around the Merlion statue at Marina Bay in Singapore. The city state’s High Court on Tuesday sentenced Singaporean Tan Jeck Tuang to 15 years’ imprisonment for raping a domestic worker and outraging her modesty. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:32pm, 6 Sep 2023Updated: 2:30pm, 6 Sep 2023

While looking after her 69-year-old employer who has dementia, a domestic helper in Singapore suddenly felt weak and helpless when he muttered the word “sleep”.

Singaporean man Tan Jeck Tuang then proceeded to outrage the woman’s modesty while she was conscious but unable to open her eyes or express resistance.

He would do so again several months later, sexually assaulting her after giving her the command to sleep, which put her into a state of helplessness that the prosecution called “a depersonalisation syndrome” – a persistent feeling of being detached from one’s body or mental processes.

You treated her as a sexual plaything for sexual gratification

Justice Aedit Abdullah to Tan Jeck Tuang

In the High Court on Tuesday, Tan was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to one charge of rape and one charge of outraging modesty.

Six other charges including sexual assault were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The victim cannot be named due to a gag order imposed by the court to protect her identity.

Slamming what Tan did as an abuse of his authority over the victim who stayed in his home, Justice Aedit Abdullah said Tan had “power and dominion” over the victim and used this to subject her to repeated abuse.