Man raped housemate after she rejected his relationship request, gets jail and caning

The self-represented man disputed the prosecution's point that it was an aggravating factor that the victim was raped in her own home, saying that it was also his home.

A view of the Singapore skyline next to the Supreme Court in Singapore July 1, 2019. (File photo: REUTERS/Edgar Su)

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SINGAPORE: After repeatedly failing in his pursuit of a relationship with his female housemate, a man accosted the woman and raped her before apologising and asking for forgiveness.

Iranian national Keivan Motallebi, 34, was sentenced on Wednesday (Nov 4) to 10 years' jail and six strokes of the cane.

He pleaded guilty to one count of rape, with a second similar charge taken into consideration.

The victim, whose identity is protected by gag order, arrived in Singapore from China on Jan 15, 2021. She rented a bedroom in a location that was redacted from court documents, from a female landlord who occupied the master bedroom.

The court heard that Motallebi moved into the unit in January 2023 and stayed in the master bedroom with the female landlord, who was not named. The nature of Motallebi's relationship with the landlord was not disclosed in court documents.

Motallebi first encountered the victim, then a 26-year-old Chinese national, in the kitchen the same month Motallebi moved in.

At about 7pm on Jan 30, 2023, the victim arrived home after work. The landlord and another tenant were not in the unit.

Motallebi knocked on the victim's bedroom door and invited her to chat in the living room.

Sitting on the sofa, they shared information about themselves. The victim told Motallebi she was single, after he asked her about this.

He then asked her to be in a relationship with him, saying he liked her.

The victim said she needed time to consider this and returned to her bedroom.

The next day, when the victim returned home, Motallebi approached her twice and again floated the relationship request. The victim turned him down.

A while later, she heard a knock on her bedroom door and opened it to see Motallebi standing outside fully naked.

Shocked, the woman tried to close the door, but Motallebi pushed his way in and carried her to the master bedroom against her will.

He raped her despite the woman's protests.

After this, Motallebi apologised to the victim and asked if she would forgive him.

She said she was too scared and wanted to have a shower. She later discovered a small cut on her finger from the struggle.

The victim lodged a police report shortly after, saying she had been raped.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Rimplejit Kaur and Adelle Tai sought nine-and-a-half to 10-and-a-half years' jail, with six strokes of the cane.

Ms Kaur said Motallebi had raped the victim in her home, which should have been a safe sanctuary for her.

Rape is a heinous crime that leaves indelible psychological and emotional scars on the victim, said Ms Kaur.

Motallebi was unrepresented but had filed nine pages of written submissions to the court.

Asked if he had anything to add, Motallebi said he wished to say that he was very sorry.

"I wish I could change the past, but I cannot do that," he said. "So I wish to seek leniency, your honour, before giving punishment, and a chance for change in the future. A second chance, your honour."

He then addressed the point the prosecutors had made how it was an aggravating factor that the rape was carried out in the victim's home.

"The difference in my own view is that I was also residing in the unit," he said, comparing the case with that of Koh Lee Hwa, a renovation contractor who raped a woman while at her flat to fix her lights .

"I was not there to do a repair or service job. It was my own home as well. I had the key. It was a shared house for four people, not only the victim's house," he said.

In sentencing, Justice Mavis Chionh reiterated that rape is a serious and heinous crime.

She said Motallebi's argument that he lived in the same flat was "beside the point".

"The commission of rape in a victim's own home is considered aggravating because a home is where a person to entitled to feel most secure," she said, adding that the security is destroyed by the commission of a violent crime within the confines of one's own home.

She said Motallebi's apology to the victim after raping her may suggest "some small degree of remorse", but she did not consider that it held "very much mitigating weight".

This was because it was not accompanied by any other conduct suggesting a willingness to take responsibility for the act, such as voluntary surrender to the police.

For rape, the offender could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.

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这名自行辩护的男子反驳了检方关于受害者在自己家中被强奸是加重情节的观点，称那也是他的家。

2019年7月1日，新加坡最高法院旁的新加坡天际线景观。（资料照片：路透社/Edgar Su）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：一名男子多次追求女室友未果后，竟对她进行骚扰并强奸了她，之后才道歉并请求原谅。

34岁的伊朗公民凯万·莫塔莱比于周三（11月4日）被判处10年监禁和6下鞭刑。

他承认犯有一项强奸罪，另一项类似的指控被纳入考虑范围。

受害人的身份因禁言令而受到保护，她于 2021 年 1 月 15 日从中国抵达新加坡。她从一位女房东那里租了一间卧室，具体位置已从法庭文件中删除，而这位女房东则住在主卧室里。

法庭获悉，莫塔莱比于2023年1月搬入该公寓，并与未透露姓名的女房东同住在主卧。法庭文件并未披露莫塔莱比与房东之间的关系性质。

莫塔莱比搬进这栋房子的当月，在厨房里第一次遇到了受害者，当时受害者是一名 26 岁的中国公民。

2023年1月30日晚上7点左右，受害者下班回家。房东和另一名租户都不在屋内。

莫塔莱比敲了敲受害者的卧室门，邀请她到客厅聊天。

他们坐在沙发上，互相介绍了自己的情况。莫塔莱比问起时，受害者告诉他是单身。

然后他向她表白，说他喜欢她，并请求和她交往。

受害者表示她需要时间考虑一下，然后回到了自己的卧室。

第二天，受害者回到家后，莫塔莱比两次接近她，再次提出交往请求。受害者拒绝了他。

过了一会儿，她听到有人敲卧室门，打开门一看，发现莫塔莱比一丝不挂地站在外面。

女子惊恐万分，试图关上门，但莫塔莱比强行闯入，强行将她抱到主卧室。

尽管女子极力反抗，他还是强奸了她。

之后，莫塔莱比向受害者道歉，并询问她是否愿意原谅他。

她说她当时太害怕了，只想洗个澡。后来她发现手指上被撕开了一道小口子，是挣扎造成的。

受害者随后向警方报案，称自己遭到强奸。

副检察官 Rimplejit Kaur 和 Adelle Tai 要求判处九年半至十年半监禁，并处以六下鞭刑。

考尔女士说，莫塔莱比在受害者家中强奸了她，而受害者的家本应是她安全的避难所。

考尔女士说，强奸是一种令人发指的罪行，会在受害者身上留下难以磨灭的心理和情感创伤。

莫塔莱比没有律师代表，但他向法庭提交了九页书面陈述。

当被问及是否还有什么要补充时，莫塔莱比表示他非常抱歉。

“我多么希望能够改变过去，但我无能为力，”他说。“所以，法官大人，我希望在判刑之前先请求您的宽恕，并给我一个改过自新的机会。给我第二次机会，法官大人。”

然后，他回应了检察官提出的观点，即强奸发生在受害者家中是一个加重情节。

“我的看法不同之处在于，我也住在那个单元里，”他说道，并将此案与装修承包商高利华的案件进行了比较。高利华在一名女子的公寓里修理灯具时强奸了她。

“我当时不是为了维修或保养而去的。那也是我自己的房子。我有钥匙。那是四个人合住的房子，不只是受害者的房子，”他说。

在宣判时，法官梅维斯·琼重申，强奸是一种严重且令人发指的罪行。

她说，莫塔莱比声称自己住在同一套公寓里的说法“毫无意义”。

“在受害者家中实施强奸被认为是加重罪行的，因为家是人最应该感到安全的地方，”她说，并补充说，在自己家中实施暴力犯罪会破坏这种安全感。

她表示，莫塔莱比在强奸受害者后向她道歉，这可能表明他“略有悔意”，但她认为这“并没有起到很大的减轻作用”。

这是因为没有伴随任何其他表明愿意承担责任的行为，例如主动向警方投案自首。

对于强奸罪，犯罪者最高可被判处 20 年监禁，并处罚款或鞭刑。

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