Sentenced by the #Singapore High Court, Ramalingam Selvasekaran, 58, won’t be caned, as he’s over 50. However, his sentence of 14 years, three months and two weeks contains further jail time in lieu of 15 strokes of the cane, reported #The Straits Times.
He was discovered responsible on July 7 of all three costs — one rely of rape and two counts of concern of modesty — after a trial by which he represented himself.
During sentencing arguments on July 30, Ramalingam maintained his innocence and stated he can be interesting in opposition to his conviction.
After he was sentenced and granted bail of SGD80,000 pending attraction, he bargained with the Judge concerning his bail situations.
Justice Aidan Xu rejected Ramalingam’s requests to take away his digital tag (normally connected to the leg to trace a convicted individual motion) and forgo common check-ins on the #Police Cantonment Complex.
Ramalingam additionally objected to Deputy Public Prosecutor Susanna Yim’s proposal to return to the lady SGD8 in money whereas the courtroom was figuring out the destiny of varied trial reveals.
“The SGD8 was taken from my store,” he stated. The choose informed the prosecution to look into the matter.
The offences passed off between about 4.50 pm and about 5.05 pm on October 28, 2021, at his provision retailer in #Jurong West on the west coast of #Singapore. The lady visited his retailer and returned later that day to purchase ice cream.
Ramalingam, who was 55 years previous then, was accused by the prosecution of main the lady to the interior confines of his store to the touch her and make her carry out oral intercourse on him.
Following the assaults, the lady sought assist from a passerby, who referred to as the police.
At the tip of the trial, which started on January 16, Ramalingam argued that the lady’s testimony shouldn’t be believed.
He stated it was unbelievable that she would have gone to a stranger for assist when she might have gone to somebody she knew.
He argued that it was suspicious that there was no police digicam footage of her returning to her dwelling after the incident.
He added that he couldn’t have raped the sufferer as he was affected by erectile dysfunction, and famous that his DNA was not discovered on her physique.
In convicting Ramalingam on July 7, Justice Xu stated the prosecution’s case had been established past an affordable doubt.
The choose discovered no vital weaknesses within the lady’s recounting of occasions.
“The fact that she had not run off after the first act of molest, or that she did not resist the assaults, or inform her grandfather, were all to my mind sufficiently explained, particularly given that she was still young and immature,” the #Singapore every day quoted the choose as saying.
Justice Xu identified that in Ramalingam’s earlier statements to the police, he said he had hugged and kissed the sufferer and that she had carried out oral intercourse on him.
Ramalingam’s later statements denying the fee of the offences have been merely an try to resile from what he had admitted, the choose stated.
Justice Xu stated the absence of digicam footage didn’t undermine her proof.
While there was no dispute that Ramalingam suffered from erectile dysfunction, the choose stated the prosecution’s knowledgeable witness gave a cogent clarification that oral rape remained doable.
The absence of Ramalingam’s DNA on the sufferer was at most impartial and didn’t undermine the lady’s proof that she had been sexually assaulted, stated the choose.
Published – July 31, 2025 07:27 am IST
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