Singapore:
An Indian-origin bar owner in Singapore was sentenced to prison for 13 years and four weeks on Monday and will receive nine lashes for raping a 17-year-old runaway girl after allowing her to work for him.
Raj Kumar Bala, 42, was convicted of one count of raping and molesting the victim and pleaded guilty to a third count of harboring a fugitive under the Children and Youth Act, Channel News Asia reported.
Defense lawyer Ramesh Tiwary said his client asked to be released on bail pending appeal, according to the channel’s report.
The court heard that the victim was 17 years old in February 2020 when she ran away from the Singapore Girls’ Home.
She discovered a job opportunity at Bala’s Don Bar and Bistro on Dunlop Street in the Little India hotel, motel and restaurant district through another fugitive who worked there.
The other fugitive was also sexually assaulted by Bala, in a charge that has been suspended for now.
The victim went down to the bar to interview for the job and met Bala, who described the job duties, including serving customers and preparing drinks.
He offered her the role, saying she could stay at the bar with other fugitives.
The victim worked at the bar for a few days, but the police received reports about people who escaped and were working there. They invaded the place in the early hours of February 22, 2020.
The victim fled with another girl to escape the operation, before being rescued by Bala.
He took them to his condominium, telling them they could stay there, before drinking alcohol with the girls.
He raped the victim while she was heavily intoxicated and also performed sexual acts on the other girl.
The victim left the condominium and surrendered at home in July 2020, but only told her social worker in August 2020 that she was raped.
Judge Mavis Chionh noted the “considerable personal harm” inflicted on the victim, who blames herself for the way she was left in a state of intoxication that led to her rape.
Her court testimony, corroborated by her ex-boyfriend, illustrated how the trauma of her past would be relived in a way that would negatively affect her well-being, the judge noted.
She said Bala knew the victim was young and on the run from police and that she depended on him for income and shelter.
Bala faces other pending charges and has not yet made a decision about what he intends to do with them, according to the report.
The bar owner faces 22 more charges relating to five other victims, mainly for sexual crimes, according to a report in “The Straits Times”. Those charges are pending in court.
He is accused of raping and molesting a victim identified in court documents as B1, raping and sexually assaulting a victim identified as B5, and raping, molesting and threatening another victim identified as B6.
He is also accused of sexually penetrating a minor under 16, identified as B7, and of molesting and alarming another victim, identified as B8. PTI GS RC
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