Former SAF regular gets jail and caning for raping 13-year-old girl, cries in the dock

SINGAPORE: A former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) regular was sentenced to 10 years' jail and 12 strokes on the cane on Wednesday (Sep 25) for raping a 13-year-old girl at a staircase landing when he was twice her age.

Muhammad Mohamed Iqbal, who is now 29 and is no longer in the army, cried in the dock during proceedings, dabbing at his eyes with tissue paper.

He pleaded guilty to one count of rape by oral penetration, and one count of possessing child abuse material.

There are broadly three kinds of rape under Section 375: Penile-vaginal, penile-anal and penile-oral. It applies with or without the victim's consent if the victim is below 14. 

The penalties for all three types of rape are a maximum of 20 years and a fine or caning.

Muhammad held the rank of Military Expert 1 (ME1) at the time of his arrest, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) told CNA on Thursday. 

He was suspended from all duties after being charged in 2023 and "ceased to be employed by the SAF" that year, said the spokesperson.

THE CASE

Muhammad got to know the victim in 2020 on chat application Telegram, when they were both in a group chat with more than 1,000 members.

He initiated a private conversation with the girl, introducing himself as "Crimson". She told him she was 13 and they began chatting.

Muhammad made sexually inappropriate comments to her and sent her an unsolicited photo of his private parts.

The girl felt uncomfortable and uninstalled the app from her phone to stop communicating with him.

However, when she reinstalled the app in July 2021, Muhammad sent her a message apologising for his behaviour.

The girl forgave him and they continued chatting. Muhammad lied to her, saying that he was an 18-year-old polytechnic student named Zachary.

After chatting online for some time, they began exchanging sexual communications and engaged in "phone sex", with the girl sending Muhammad photos of herself at his request.

He got the girl to meet him twice in July and August 2021.

On Aug 20, 2021, the pair met at a playground at about 6.20am before heading to a staircase landing on Muhammad's suggestion as it was raining.

The girl told him she was worried about her science examination paper which she would be taking later. During their conversation, Muhammad touched her and complimented her handwriting in her study notes.

He then got her to perform a sex act on him. The girl said she had to leave for school but Muhammad persuaded her to stay and continue.

At about 7.10am that day, a 47-year-old American man who lived nearby looked out of his flat and saw the victim in her school uniform performing a sex act on Muhammad.

He called the police, saying he saw a schoolgirl engaged in a sex act and that she "does not look happy ... doing it".

The girl rushed off for school but received a phone call from her mother in the afternoon, saying someone had lodged a police report about her.

The girl's mother instructed her to unblock Muhammad on Telegram - which the victim had done after declining an invitation to his home after her lessons that day.

Using the victim's account, the girl's mother contacted Muhammad.

Suspecting a police report had been lodged against him, Muhammad later confronted the victim and told her he felt betrayed, before removing his profile picture and deleting his messages.

He was arrested on Aug 23, 2021. A total of 19 obscene video clips were found in his phone, with nine depicting children.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

Deputy Public Prosecutors Colin Ng and June Ngian called for a jail term of between nine years and eight months, and 10 years and 10 months, along with six strokes of the cane.

Mr Ng said it was "apparent that the accused's behaviour was motivated by a calculated decision to fulfil his sexual urges".

After learning she was 13, Muhammad engaged in sexual communications with her and lied that he was 18 as he was afraid the girl would stop talking to him if he revealed his real age, said Mr Ng.

Justice Valerie Thean questioned Mr Ng about his submission for six strokes of the cane instead of 12, as provided for under a sentencing framework.

Mr Ng said the prosecution considered his "relatively young age" at the time, as well as his guilty plea.

REGRETS PUTTING HIS MOTHER THROUGH THIS: DEFENCE

Defence lawyer Ramachandran Shiever Subramanium from Grays law firm sought nine years' jail and four strokes of the cane instead.

He said his client has shown remorse and admitted to his guilt at the earliest opportunity. Any sentence should not have a crushing effect on Muhammad, who is "capable of rehabilitation", said the lawyer.

"The accused admits his transgressions and concedes that being older than the victim, he should have known better," said Mr Subramanium, as his client cried in the dock.

"He admits that being older, he should have been more in control of his impulses."

He said Muhammad voluntarily attended the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and sought psychiatric assessment after his arrest as he felt ashamed.

He was referred for counselling and did volunteer work to help the needy.

"In his mind, he takes it as a road to redemption for his transgressions," said the lawyer. "He's never been on the wrong side of the law. He is deeply depressed, spending sleepless nights facing the prospect of (jail)."

Mr Subramanium added that the entire process has had "a debilitating effect" on his client, who is "in agony", has "secluded himself" and is "no longer the jovial individual he was".

"The breakdown of his mother on hearing his culpability has deeply affected him," said the lawyer. "He genuinely regrets putting his family, especially his mother, through such an ordeal and for tarnishing the good name of his family. That in itself is punishment."

He added that Muhammad is "resigned to the fact that this conviction will lead him to be dishonourably discharged from the army and be stigmatised for the rest of his life".

He said his client was "an exemplary soldier in the army", always helpful and well-liked by his peers, supervisors and subordinates.

"He's now come to realise he's destroyed a potentially bright future in the army," said Mr Subramanium. "He wishes that if he could turn back time, he would."

The defence also claimed that Muhammad had met the victim that day as he was concerned about her suicidal thoughts.

Mr Ng rebutted this, saying that even if he really was concerned, he should have alerted the authorities so the victim could seek professional help.

Instead, he exploited the girl who was already in a vulnerable state, by making her perform the sex act on him during the "purported counselling session", said Mr Ng.

The two charges showed a common theme - Muhammad's sexual proclivities with child victims.

"Sentencing is not a form of moral accounting," Mr Ng said, referring to the defence's submission on Muhammad's volunteer work. "People who do good deeds should not get to offset their crimes."

In sentencing, Justice Thean imposed twice the amount of strokes of the cane sought by the prosecution and three times the number sought by the defence, sticking instead to the sentencing framework used.

The MINDEF spokesperson told CNA that "the SAF holds its service personnel to high standards of discipline and integrity".

"Service personnel who commit offences will be dealt with in accordance with the law," she said.