Smoking In Singapore

A radiographic scan inconsistency with what was declared in the permit documents prompted the authorities to perform a physical inspection on the consignment on Wednesday.

The 40-footer container at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station was on trans-shipment and bound for the Keppel Free Trade Zone. 

Upon inspection, Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) found cigarettes packed in innocuous-looking brown boxes.
Stuffed in the boxes were 412,000 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes, with an estimated street value of S$4.12 million. 

It is their largest haul to date, of contraband cigarettes in five years with evaded duty to about S$2.9 million and GST evasion amount totalling S$275,000, amounting to about S$3.2 million.

Upon conviction, first time offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and be liable for a jail term not exceeding three years. 

For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded and jailed for up to six years.

The offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded. 

The conveyances or vehicles used in transporting the contraband will also be liable for forfeiture.

******

In a joint operation conducted with the Royal Malaysian Customs, a container load, declared in the manifest as hydraulic brakes, were 502,500 packets of cigarettes of assorted brands.

It was seized by Singapore Customs on April 25.

Among contraband smuggling items, duty-unpaid cigarettes lead with an increase of 45%.

About 19,000 cigarettes were seized in 2009, 27,000 in 2010 and already 1.29 million packets seized in 2011.

The number of cigarette offenders had increased by 30% to 25,787 offenders.

Singapore Customs noted that the offences were mostly committed by travellers who had brought in loose packets for personal consumption.

To create greater public awareness on the requirement to declare dutiable goods brought into Singapore, a series of media publicity to reach out to travellers had been launched by the agency in January this year.

More stringent checks and efforts by Singapore Customs, ICA and Police Force, had led to a five-year low record of 2.3 million packets of illegal cigarettes being seized last year, a fall of 21% from 2009.

The number of people caught buying illegal cigarettes had also dropped by 17% in 2010, registering a four-year low record, a likely indication that more smokers are turning away from illegal sources for their puffs.

Duties collected from cigarettes rose from S$861 million in 2009 to S$877 million a year later, another likely indication towards lesser demand for contraband cigarettes in the black market.

****** 

Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Customs staking out at Bedok Industrial Park on Thursday March 24, 2011, became suspicious when they spotted a man leaving hastily in a taxi, right after unlocking the side doors of the truck.

They caught up with him and escorted him back to the truck.

The 46-year-old Singaporean was immediately arrested after unlocking one of the two parked Singapore-registered truck. 

The storage area seemed to be loaded with just brown cement bags.
But hidden in these bags - and in similar bags in another nearby truck, ICA and Singapore Custom uncovered smuggled cigarettes of assorted brands.

Over 6,504 cartons and another 6,042 loose packets of contraband cigarettes, with a tax payable amount of S$545,700 were stashed in both parked truck. 
The man carried the keys to both trucks that contained the contraband cigarettes. 

The man was promised S$100 a day to unlock the truck to allow illegal peddlers, to retrieve the cigarettes.

If the man is a first-time offender, he can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded, and jailed a maximum of three years. 

The Maid - Her Right? Of Having Male Friend (2)

31-year old Ruliyawati was flown directly to Semarang, Central Java with a Lion Air flight Y 864 at 10:35 a.m. local time.
It arrived in Semarang at 11:40 a.m. today Friday morning.

Her body  was discovered on Monday morning, in a water tank serving residents of  Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, in one of the eight, 2-meter-deep water tank in the building atop the 15-storey Housing Development Board block of flats in Woodlands.
She had been working there, for an employer identified only as Wang, on the sixth floor.

From Kendal, Central Java, Ruliyawati was reported to have entered Singapore in July 2010, finding work through Indonesian placement agency, PT Dafa Putra Jaya.

MigrantCARE, an NGO focusing on migrant worker issues has called on the Indonesian government to immediately take charge of the legal proceedings pertaining to the alleged murder of Ruliyawati.

She was married and had a four-year-old son in Indonesia.

Bangladeshi cleaner, 27-year old Md Repon Mostafa, was charged with her murder between 7:10 a.m. and 9:54 a.m.

The case is still being investigates by the local authorities.
The police was informed at about 10 a.m., believed to have been placed by a colleague of the suspect, an employee of Sergent Services Pte. Ltd., which offers conservancy services.

The suspect killer may have had access to the roof as part of his job as a maintenance worker.
He was limping and had cuts on his legs when he was led away by the police at 10.40am.
He was remanded for investigation at the Singapore Central Police Division for a week.
If convicted, he would face the death penalty.

******

Ruliyawati was described as petite and attractive.
Her family's financial problems forced her to come to Singapore, leaving behind her child.

Both migrant workers met just a month after she started work here in August last year.

It was almost a near-daily routine for Ruliyawati to go to the minimart for newspapers or canned food for her employers while her man and his friends would buy groceries or newspapers from the minimart in the evening.

They can be seen chatting at the void deck of Block 686B, or having a heated argument.
The couple often quarreled at the void deck and in secluded stairwells at the block, and these tiffs revolved around Ruliyawati's family.

But on the Monday morning, stormy relationship ended for good when the Bangladeshi cleaner placed the Indonesian maid's body in one of eight rooftop water tanks.

******

Some residents of Block 686B, called the Sembawang Town Council to complain of slightly yellowish and unnaturally foamy water when they turned on their taps on Monday morning.
Instead, their water supply was cut off at 11am, citing 'maintenance work' was being done.

Some assumed that the water pipes were malfunctioning.
It was only later in the day that the horrifying news spread that an Indonesian maid working there had been found dead in one of eight water tanks atop the 15-storey block.

One resident reported seeing bloodstains in the lift and blood droplets at the lift landing.

The stories circulated quickly and residents rushed to the foot of the block to draw water from the washing area at the void deck.
168 households may have had their drinking water supply affected by the housemaid's body.
Residents were seen queuing up with pails and pots to draw water from the washing area.
Some residents were upset that they had been using water not knowing it may have been contaminated.

The PUB received a report of the incident at 3.30pm.
Water supply was immediately stopped.
Water bags were hand out to residents and water supply restored after the town council flushing and washing the tanks and distribution pipes.

Police received a call informing them of the dead body at 10am.
The Indonesian domestic helper was pronounced dead at 1pm.

Some residents recalled hearing screams and a couple arguing loudly in the morning at 7am.
No police report was made as it was thought to be just a domestic tiff.
Some residents witnessed a man and woman arguing with each other on Monday morning.
The man was seen choking the woman.

****** ****** ******

Singapore's High Court sentenced to death in early January 2010, 35-year old Kamarul Hasan Abdul Quddus, a Bangladeshi worker involved in a love triangle with an Indonesian maid, 25-year old Yulia Afriyanti, more than two years earlier.

Kamarul Hasan was found guilty of strangling his girlfriend Yulia, on December 16, 2007.
Her time of death was estimated to be about 4.16am that day.

But the Bangladeshi construction worker claimed she was dead when he found her.
He claimed he was asleep in his dormitory the night she was murdered.

During the 15-day-trial, Kamrul has stuck to his story that he had last seen Yulia on the evening of December 15, 2007 near her employer's house in Grange Road, got into intimate relationship at a nearby park, then left at 9pm.

They planned to meet again nine hours later at his worksite at the Viz@Holland condominium, and had inadvertently taken her phone back with him when they parted at 9pm.
He stayed in the dorm until about 4am to meet her again.

He had gone to meet her at his worksite earlier, as she had complained that a man he knew as Joseph was trying to force her to go to the airport and a hotel that night.

He took a taxi there, and claimed he found her naked body stuffed in a cardboard box in a storeroom of a third-floor unit.
He said he was so frightened that he kept mum about his grisly find.

******

An ez-link card found on Kamarul had been used for a trip from Kaki Bukit to Queensway at about midnight.

Phone records showed that between 1.45am and 2.10am, there were text messages between Kamarul and Yulia, five missed calls from him and one successful call.

DNA evidence revealed that he had  sexual relationship with the 25-year-old Indonesian maid within the 12 hours before she was found dead at the condominium worksite in Queensway where he worked.

Police found Yulia's phone and jewellery in his Kaki Bukit dormitory locker when he was arrested on December 19.

He claimed the watch and jewellery which had Yulia's DNA on these items, found  in his locker were not hers, but items he had bought for his wife back home.

But Yulia's employer testified that she had bought the watch and used it before giving it to her maid.

The employer and some of the 69 witnesses had also testified that Ms Yulia told them she and Kamrul would be welcoming his mother and a younger sibling at the airport on the day she was found dead.

Yulia's body was found by a construction worker Md Avir Ramijuddinmiah at about 9.50am on 16 Dec 2007.
He informed his supervisor, who then alerted the project's main contractor.

Her naked body was found in a big 1m long and 3/4m wide cardboard box in the bomb shelter of a third-storey unit at a condominium construction site in Queensway, near Holland Road, where Kamarul Hasan had worked.
She is alleged to have died at the hands of her lover in a crime of passion.

******

Kamrul met Yulia at a social gathering, introduced by a mutual friend in 2005.
They became intimate a year later in January 2007, and would meet once or twice a month.

In September the same year, she told her employers and friends that she was returning to Indonesia and would be marrying Kamrul there.

But a month later, the marriage was called off.

Yulia confided in her employers that Kamrul was already married in Bangladesh with two children.

At the same time, Kamrul was back in Bangladesh in September and October 2007.

In mid December, Yulia met Kamrul while taking the dog for its evening walk from a residence in Grange Road.
He then returned to his dormitory in Kaki Bukit but at 11.30pm, he took a bus to his worksite.

Less than eight hours later, a construction worker found Yulia's body in the cardboard box.

His (Kamarul) fingerprints were found at the crime scene and DNA test showed they had sexual relationship before her death.
The evidence thus proved that the accused strangled the deceased.

******

 
Yulia's number was given to the above, 25-year old Joseph Guerzon Corpuza, a Filipino construction worker here, in early October 2007.
Aunt Annabelle, a close friend of his, introduced the couple.

He called her on that very day and they made plans to meet on her day off on Sunday, October 14.

They spent the afternoon at the East Coast Park before window shopping at City Plaza.
He then took her to her employer's house at Grange Heights.
She told him that she had a boyfriend but had returned to Bangladesh.

Their relationship blossomed.
They too became intimate, planned to marry but she never broke up with Kamrul.
They continued their frequent and intimate telephone conversations.

Beside Sundays' meetings, he would sometimes travel from Boon Lay to Grange Heights to meet her when she walked her employer's dog at the condominium at 8 pm every night.

They had sexual relationship in November despite Yulia's fear of getting pregnant again.
The pregnancy was aborted.
He was not informed who the father was.
It was on one of those Sunday meeting when Yulia asked Joseph to answer her phone from Kamrul.
Kamarul had planned to marry Yulia.

The last time Joseph saw Yulia alive was on Dec 9, 2007, and it was then that she told him she was still deeply in love with her former boyfriend Kamrul Hasan, and that they were getting married in January.

Yulia was in a love triangle with Kamrul and Joseph, before she finally decided on Kamarul.

She offered to return the handphone Joseph had given her but he declined as he wanted to keep in touch with her and try to win her over.
Joseph was heartbroken despite telling Yulia to take care of herself when on the evening of December 15, when she called to tell him she was going to Changi Airport with Kamrul to welcome his mother and brother.

Although Kamarul told the court that Yulia had called him to complain that Joseph was allegedly forcing her to have a relationship, Joseph did not even know the location of the condominium.
He was at home on the day the crime was committed.

He tried to contact her many times but failed to do so.
In court, Joseph identified the phone he had given to her.

When he managed to phone Yulia a few days after Yulia talk of her marriage plan to Kamarul, a police officer answered, saying his former girlfriend was dead and that the police wanted to talk to him.

In Dubai

One Indian Expat Commits Suicide Every Three Days 

Indian consulate reveals grim figures as three Indians kill themselves in 10 days
 

Bystanders watch Dubai police rescue Murugesh, 40, a desperate worker after he climbed up a 30-metre electric pole for suicide along Al Khail Road. (FILE)

As many as 27 Indians took their lives in the first quarter of this year, adding to the 110 who committed suicide last year, the Indian consulate revealed Monday.
The stats were revealed following a spate of suicide cases in the last 10 days in which two executives and a labourer committed suicide, indicating an alarming pervasion of the tendency across the social strata.
Though, the stats show a steady decrease in the numbers over the past three years, but Indians are still number one by far when it comes to taking their own lives.
Figures show that of the 1,420 Indian deaths registered at the consulate in 2008, 147 were suicides. In 2009, the number of suicides came down to 113, however, the number of deaths registered also dropped to 1,285.
“Any suicide is a worry. We are working to reach out to people to take help from councellors,” said Sanjay Verma, Consul General of India.
He said that the majority of those taking their lives are blue-collar workers, who take the step either because of a financial stress or personal issues.
However, the rising profiles of recent suicides have alarmed the authorities, indicating that the tendency is pervasive and not confined any particular strata of the society.
Among the recent cases that stand out is the suicide of 38-year-old high profile executive Llewelyn Couto, who jumped from the 40th floor of Icon 1 building at Jumeirah Lakes Towers.
Friends of Couto, who remember him as a ‘funny guy’ who laughed and made others do the same, are in a shock of their life as news of the suicide spread.
Couto left behind a six-month pregnant wife and 18-month-old child and worked in a senior position at the fashion chain Splash.
The 38-year-old’s death leap follows two other such cases in which a 30-year-old Indian foreman jumped off the 147th floor of Burj Khalifa, and a labourer was found hanging from the ceiling in Sharjah.
Though, the details of the third case were not revealed, both Couto and the foreman’s suicides seemingly stem from depression and frustration, seen as common causes in most suicide cases.

******

Another Suicide?

Man jumps to death from 30th floor in JLTA


A woman saw the man jump and called the police. Initial investigations do not show foul play.
 

An Indian executive allegedly committed suicide on Sunday by jumping from the 30th floor of a building in Jumeirah Lake Towers at around 1.30pm, reported 'Khaleej Times'.
A woman saw the man jump and called the police, who moved the body to Department of Forensic Medicine. Initial investigations do not show foul play.
A letter allegedly written by the 45-year-old man reveals he was taking his own life following a dispute with his wife and due to certain financial problems, said police sources.
Found hanging
Meanwhile, Sharjah Police are investigating into the death of an Indian worker last Thursday. The 26-year-old man was found hanging from the ceiling of his room, which he shared with a few others. His co-workers and roommates are being interrogated.
Last week, another Indian reportedly committed suicide in a plunge of 39 floors from a segment of the world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai. Dubai Police, Emaar Properties, which owns and manages Burj Khalifa, and a resident, confirmed the report to Emirates 24|7.

******

Financial Woes Behind Most Dubai Suicides 

Account for 80% of cases which are concentrated between age group of 20 and 40  

Picture used for illustrative purposes only. (FILE)

About 80 per cent of suicides concentrate between the age group of 20 and 40 years. Financial woes topped the list of causes that drove people to suicides in the emirate, according to a forensic expert.
There were 477 suicide cases in Dubai in the last four years, according to Dubai Police records. While 2009 saw a decline in the number of cases (113 cases) from 2006 and 2007, which saw 102 and 114 cases respectively, the number of suicide cases had peaked in 2008 with 148 cases investigated.
Dr Ashraf Ibrahim Hassan, forensic medical examiner, Forensic Medicine Department, Dubai Police, said 60 per cent of cases are due to financial reasons, 30 per cent due to emotional reasons, only 10 per cent are due to other causes.
Physical methods of terminating life were the most common and provide direct evidence, while chemical methods offer latent evidence of action. In cases of poisoning, it is difficult to prove if it was a suicide case or just an overdose of drugs, said Dr Hassan.
Similarly to rule out suicide in cases of death due to fall or drowning takes time as witnesses play a  crucial role. Also in such cases detailed investigation with respect to the victims' family history and his immediate environment is time consuming.
Dr Hassan said: "Suicides formed only less than 10 per cent of the total cases of deaths submitted to the Department of Forensic Medicine (criminal and normal). Natural deaths formed 70 per cent and murder included 20 per cent, while deaths due to accidents (vehicle) represented just 10 per cent. While 80 per cent of suicides are concentrated in the age group from 20 to 40 years, drug abuse form 20-25 per cent of deaths."
When it comes to taking one's life, men are more aggressive, he said. Of the 113 cases reported last year, only nine involved women, said Dr Hassan, which is less than 10 per cent. Suicides are most common among illiterates and the unskilled and are rare among the educated, he added.
In most cases victims end their lives to escape difficult siuations. Yet others end their lives to bury a secret with them. Whatever the reason, suicide is not the answer, said Dr Hassan.
People who have survived suicide attempts have reported wanting not so much to die as to stop living, a strange dichotomy but a valid one nevertheless, he said.
Depression is also increasingly becoming a prime reason. "My experience has shown that 90 per cent of suicides follow psychological pressure, where the person might not have been willing to work, for instance, otherwise he might be a dignified and sensitive person. About 20 per cent of victims would have already attempted suicide before.”
In his long experience with the forensic department, Dr Hassan has come across several interesting as well as difficult cases. One particular case that moved him the most was the sight of small children crying on seeing their father hanging from the ceiling when they returned from school.
He another case, a Pakistani man's body was found with 17 incised wounds on his neck and wrists, apparently made with razors. Investigations proved he was a highly religious person but was mentally  depressed, he said.
Similarly, an Indian computer engineer was found dead inside his car in Dubai again with injuries on his neck and wrists. Investigations found that he was accused of stealing money from his company.
Another incident, Dr Hassan said, which was confirmed as natural death and later revoked to as suicide when they found marks on his neck that showed he was killed and then hanged.
Police found a body on Al Saif Street with his shirt wrapped around his neck and initial probe said it was a car accident. Later it was proved that he had committed suicide and his partners wanted to get rid of his body as they were into illicit liqour trade and therefore dumped his body on the street.
Dr Hassan said suicide among children was rare. In one such case the body of an 11-year old was found in Al Qusais area. He had hanged himself. Among children the reasons are very silly, he said, such as betting among themselves to a daredevil act just mimicking their superheroes.
Shooting oneself is again rare method adopted by people committing suicides, he added.

Source: Emirates 247

Discovery Of Pro-Democracy Mass Grave

Bodies in an alleged collective grave in Daraa, the town at the heart of protests roiling the country for two months. 

Mass grave in Syria protest hub

 

DAMASCUS, May 16, (Agencies): Syria’s brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protests took a chilling turn Monday with the discovery of a mass grave in Daraa, the town at the heart of protests roiling the country for two months, an activist said.


A witness, meanwhile, said corpses and wounded people were lying on the streets of Tall Kalakh, a besieged western town.


Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria, told AFP by telephone that the grim find in Daraa, which has been sealed off for nearly a month, was made after the army allowed residents to venture outside their homes for two hours daily.


“They discovered a mass grave in the old part of town but authorities immediately cordoned off the area to prevent residents from recovering the bodies, some of which they promised would be handed over later,” Qurabi said on the phone from Cairo.


He was unable to say how many bodies were found in the mass grave.
His account could not be independently verified as Syrian authorities have prevented journalists from traveling to cities and towns across the country to report on the unprecedented protests threatening the authoritarian rule of President Bashar al-Assad.


Qurabi said that 34 people had also been killed in the past five days in the towns of Jassem and Inkhil, near Daraa.


“I fear that dozens more casualties may be lying in nearby wheat fields and orchards because families have not been able to access the region which is encircled by security troops and snipers,” he said.
In Tall Kalakh, the western town besieged by the army, a witness told AFP of corpses and wounded people left lying in the streets, with local residents unable to recover them because of shelling and heavy gunfire.


He said many corpses were also being kept in refrigerated trucks at the local hospital pending burial.
“I can see six tanks from where I am right now,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous.
“There are many more parked in front of the main bakery and the Othman ibn Affan mosque in the center of town,” he added, as gunfire rattled in the background.


Another witness earlier said that at least 10 people had been killed on Sunday in Tall Kalakh with hundreds of local residents fleeing, many of them to nearby Lebanon.
Shelling and shooting was also reported in the nearby town of Arida, an activist told AFP.
Syrian television, meanwhile, reported that two soldiers had been killed and 11 injured by “gangsters” in Tall Kalakh at the weekend.


Security forces have sought to prevent the unrest from spreading across the country by systematically laying siege to towns and cities where anti-regime protests have been held.
More than 850 people, including women and children, have been killed in the unrest and at least 8,000 arrested, according to rights groups.


Syria has blamed the violence on “armed terrorist gangs” backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.
Hundreds of those arrested were released on Sunday after signing pledges not to take part in further protests, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“Several of them said they had been tortured,” he said, adding that thousands of people remained jailed and more arrests were taking place.


The United States and European Union have responded to the unrest in Syria by imposing sanctions on members of Assad’s inner circle but stopped short of targeting him personally.
There are fears that should Assad’s regime fall, that would have serious ramifications for the region and could lead to civil war.


At least 15 Syrian tanks pushed overnight into a rural area near the Lebanese border, where security forces have concentrated their latest crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrations, human rights activists said.


The activists, who were in contact with residents, said the tanks deployed around Arida, near the Jisr al-Qomar border crossing point with northern Lebanon. Witnesses on the Lebanese side of the border told Reuters they could hear the sound of gunfire throughout the night.
Syrians fleeing their homeland described a “catastrophic” scene Monday in a besieged border town that has been largely sealed off as the army tries to crush a two-month uprising.
At least eight people were killed Sunday in Talkalakh — the most recent casualties from a government crackdown that already has killed 850 people nationwide since mid-March, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. A town of about 70,000 residents, Talkalakh has been under a military siege since last week.


“The situation in the city is catastrophic,” said Ahmad, 55, who crossed the border into Lebanon overnight Monday and asked to be identified only by his first name.
“If you walk in the streets of Talkalakh you can smell the dead bodies,” he said.
A human rights activist says eight people have been killed because of violence in a Syrian border town where witnesses reported hearing crackling gunfire and explosions.
Mustafa Osso said Monday that six people were killed in Talkalakh on Sunday and two others — including a soldier — died in Lebanon after crossing the border for treatment.
He said military operations were continuing in the town on Monday.
Hundreds of people have been fleeing into Lebanon to escape a harsh crackdown against anti-government protests. Human rights groups say more than 800 people have been killed since mid-March.
Few reports were leaking out of Talkalakh because Syrian troops have isolated the city and cut telephone lines.


A British official says Syrian President Bashar Assad could eventually be referred to the International Criminal Court alongside Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
The court’s prosecutor said Monday he had asked judges to issue arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son and the country’s intelligence chief for deliberately targeting civilians during the crackdown on rebels.
A British defense minister, Nick Harvey, told British legislators he believed it was likely the court would in the future seek to charge Assad over Syria’s violent crackdown on protests.
He said the court was “highly likely to arrive at a similar conclusion” in the case of Assad as it had over Gaddafi.
Britain has so far not called for Assad to step down, but has demanded his regime halts its violence.


Source: Arab Times Online - May 16, 2011

Towards Lesser Crime In JB (14)

Rape (3)

A 24-year-old single mother was in a car with her boyfriend when a man armed with a knife opened the car door at a traffic light junction at about 2.25am on Monday, May 16.

The man then pointed the knife at the boyfriend and ordered him to drive the car to a house in Teluk Jawa, Pasir Gudang, while an accomplice followed on a motorcycle.
Upon arriving at a house there, the suspects tied the boyfriend before raping the woman.
They also robbed them of cash and their mobile phones.

Upon tip-off, police arrested both suspects at a house along Jalan Bayan in Seri Alam, within nine hours after the rape in a new housing project in Teluk Jawa.
One of them, aged 25, has eight previous records for burglary, theft and assault.

****** 

Jailed – Drunk Labourer Who Raped Woman 
By FARIK ZOLKEPLI 

JOHOR BARU: A 32-year-old labourer who admitted that he was drunk when he raped a woman on Aug 5 was sentenced to 10 years’ jail and seven strokes of the rotan.
K. Paramasivan pleaded guilty to raping the 24-year-old woman at a booth in JP Perdana at about 8pm.

Sex fiend: Paramasivan being led away after he was jailed for rape.
 

The facts of the case stated that he had earlier abducted the victim and taken her to the booth.
He punched and slapped the victim repeatedly in the face and other parts of her body before raping her.
However, a police patrol unit managed to rescue the victim and arrest him following a scuffle.
In mitigation, Paramasivan said he had a family to support.
“I was drunk and I deeply regret my actions,” he said.
DPP Jasmee Hameeza Jaafat asked Sessions Court judge Salawati Djam­bari to mete the maximum sentence due to the seriousness of the offence and the victim’s injuries.
“The accused also has previous convictions for robberies as well as rape,” he said.
Meanwhile, Paramasivan was also charged with stealing the victim’s two mobile phones and a gold necklace while causing hurt.
That case has been fixed for mention on Sept 17.

Source: The Star - Wednesday, August 18, 2010

****** 

Are We Too Lenient With Rapists At Times?

THE Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law defines RAPE as ‘unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception — see also STATUTORY RAPE.’Note: The common-law crime of rape involved a man having carnal knowledge of a woman not his wife through force and against her will.
Even without referring to the dictionary, we all know what rape is about. But do we really know or understand what rape victims have to go through? The reality is that unless we are the victims or one of our loved ones is unfortunate enough to fall prey to such a violent act, we will not be able to comprehend the horror and trauma of rape. Victims are scarred for life.
I was reading an article about the anti-rape legislation and that induced me to look up the dictionary for the finer definition of this heinous crime.
It’s interesting to learn that by and large, we seem to be sending the wrong signals about rape, beginning with the laws that let off too easily those who commit such a crime to an attitude that it is all right for men to be aggressive while women must suffer in silence.
Women’s groups in the country have claimed that rape is one issue this country has not dealt with properly and I agree with them.
A report this week in a national daily struck me. In December 2008, a man who raped his eight-year-old daughter was sentenced by the Sessions Court in Muar, to 25 years jail and 15 strokes of the rotan. This sentence was later affirmed by the High Court.
Yet last Monday (March 22), the Court of Appeal commuted the convicted felon’s punishment by six years jail and five strokes of the rotan. Several questions come to mind with this new judgement.
Why was this evil perpetrator’s sentence reduced? Who thought his sentence was too harsh? But what about the life sentence on the little girl? Have the judges contemplated this at all? Who knows the anguish and who can measure the mental and physical scars that will torment the poor girl for the rest of her life?
The layman in us will not be able to understand what was in the minds of the judges when they shortened the sentence on appeal. Have they not seen the mixed messages coming out of this? It sets a poor example and a precedent for the disturbed and evil men who feel they can violate and abuse the rights of children who are too young to defend themselves.
With a clearer picture and understanding of the issue at hand, I think we must all give our undivided support to women’s groups who have espoused legislative changes and greater justice for rape victims.
The All Women’s Action Society (Awam) has been asking for the abolition of the stipulation on corroborative evidence such as physical injuries in rape cases for a long time. It also wants compensation for rape survivors.
Awam and other women’s groups say whatever is lacking in the law is but a reflection of the flawed societal attitudes regarding rape, its perpetrators and their victims. So far, such legislation has been long wanting.
According to Awam, it appears that there is high tolerance for men who go around bragging about their sexual prowess, which they equate with being ‘real men’.
“Masculinity allows aggression, which leads to rape. There is a thin line between the two,’’ the society adds.
Women’s Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah has also been quoted as saying that ‘in cases of violence against women, be it in the form of rape, physical abuse or sexual harassment, women are told to be silent’.
But Josiah says this does not stop people from looking with contempt at a woman who has been raped ‘’because losing her virginity carries a social stigma’’. These double standards largely explain the prevailing insensitivity of even authorities and health workers toward rape victims.
It must be made clear to all that rape cases have been on the rise in the country and the crime has reached a stage where it has frighteningly become just an everyday, common affair.
Sarawak is also not spared of this ‘scourge’. Police statistics show that the number of statutory rape cases in the state has been on the increase. The police report is too lengthy to go into this column but suffice to say, the statistics are alarming. The reported cases run in several thousands for the whole country.
Some cases can be real violent too and victims were even murdered. There was a recent report of a woman being gang-raped and then set on fire. Then, a 15-year-old ethnic Indian student was raped and murdered, prompting a bitter public outcry. A woman and her daughter were also raped by her 41-year-old son-in-law and a Dutch tourist was gang-raped at a rubber estate. These cases took place in Kuala Lumpur.
Then in Kuching, remember the 14-year-old schoolgirl who was raped at the overhead bridge in Petra Jaya on a busy afternoon in May 2009? In the same week, a 12-year-old girl was taken from her school to a jungle in Samariang and raped. And surely, we have not forgotten the long running saga of the rape of Penan girls.
These are only the reported cases. What about those which were unreported, either for reasons of shame or sheer ignorance?
And part of the reason for under-reporting lies in legislation. Malaysian legal advocates have long had problems with the laws pertaining to rapists and other sexual offenders. They point out that the sentences meted out to those found guilty are too light.
Also, there is the question of definition. Under Malaysian law, rape occurs only when a man forcefully penetrates a woman’s sexual organ with his penis. Using another object such as bottle or a stick, therefore, does not constitute rape.
Yes, the dictionary clearly defines rape — it is torture at its worst! It is such a horrifying, heinous crime and it is high time that we have new legislation that truly punish perpetrators with the same degree of human suffering that they have inflicted on their victims.
No, this is not vengeance. This is justice!

Source: The Borneo Post - Saturday, March 27, 2010

Towards Lesser Crime In JB (13)

Rape (2)

A semi-paralysed Felda settler Romle Ariffin, 56, had pleaded guilty to offence he committed at his house in Felda Inas, Kulaijaya, on several occasions, between March 14 and April 4.

The wheelchair-bound man was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane for raping his 15-year-old teenage daughter several times while tending to him.
The girl had been looking after him.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jasmee Hameeza Jaafar prosecuted while the accused was not represented.

In passing judgment on April 19, 2011, the Johor Bahru Sessions Court judge Nu’aman Mahmud Zuhudi noted that the accused took advantage on his position and his own flesh and blood to satisfy his sexual urges.

Romle, who was charged under Section 376B of the Penal Code, should have protected his daughter instead of using her to fulfil his lust.

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Another father, a 26-year-old special school teacher in Pagoh was charged at the Sessions Court last October.

He was charged with raping his 4-year-old stepdaughter in Taman Pagoh Jaya, Johor, at 9pm on September  22.

The teacher was then taken to the magistrate's court where he was charged with assaulting his 28-year old wife by suffocating, slapping and punching her in the same house at 3am on March 25.

Deputy public prosecutor Ratinah Abu Bakar prosecuted while counsel Maniam K. Marappan represented the accused.

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 Muar Rapist Dad Gets 25 Years' Jail



An odd-job worker in Muar, Johor was found guilty of raping his daughter, then 17, since 2007.

The sessions court has imposed a 25-year jail term and 10 strokes for each offence and ordered the sentences to run concurrently from the date of arrest on Jan 21 this year.

He was found guilty of raping his daughter at a house in Lenga at 8am in 2007, at another house in Pagoh between midnight and 4am in August last year and at the same house at 4am in October last year.

Deputy public prosecutor Zairani Tugiran urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the father of three.

The court was earlier told that the victim had stayed at a boarding school but when she returned home, she was raped when her mother was at work in a factory or while she was asleep.

The court was also told the girl was warded in Muar Hospital for psychiatric observation because of depression.

Source: The Star - November 30, 2010
 

Towards Lesser Crime In JB (12)

Rape

Four men, S. Aramagam, 30, M. Viji Kumar, 29, B. Devandran, 22 and Steven Lim Beng Chuan, 21, on Friday 13, 2011, received a jail term totalling 64 years.

They were also ordered to be collectively caned 52 times for robbing a couple of more than RM15,000, including some electrical items.

Worst still, they raped the wife at their home in Kangkar Pulai, Johor Bahru, at between 6am and 7am on February 28 last year.

Except Viji Kumar, the others admitted to also raping the 27-year-old wife after tying up her husband.

Aramagam also forced the woman to perform oral sex on him.

Sessions Court Judge Zambri Bakar sentenced Aramagam to 20 years' jail and ordered him to be given 16 strokes of the cane.

Steven Lim and Devendran were each sentenced to 18 years' jail and ordered to be given 14 strokes of the rotan for their double crimes - robbery and rape.

Viji Kumar, the only person who did not commit the rape, was sentenced to 10 years' jail and ordered to be caned eight times.

Each of the four men, however, will only serve 10 years in prison as the judge ordered the jail sentences to run concurrently from the date of their arrest.
DPP Norashikin Ibrahim prosecuted the case while all the accused were not represented.

The men were seen staring downward in a sombre mood before Judge Zambri Bakar.

But after the judge stepped down and left the courtroom, the four men switched to jovial mode and started to joke and laugh among themselves.
They could still laugh and joke among themselves despite the heavy sentences passed on them.

Earlier, they had pleaded for leniency after pleading guilty to a total of seven charges against them.

Camera shy: Two of the four robbers being led out of the Johor Bahru court. 

Photo: The Star
 

The four men had refused to leave the court room, saying they did not want to be caught on camera by press photographers waiting outside the court.

"What are they going to do with my picture? Are they going to post it up?" one of them was heard saying in Tamil, quoting from The Star.

A court policeman later led them out through a back entrance.

According to the facts of the case, the husband had woken up and was about to perform his prayers when he noticed intruders were inside his double-storey house.

The intruders had entered through an unlocked window at the back of the house.

They grabbed some knives from the kitchen and threatened the husband.
One of the men had threatened him with a knife.

The husband tried to put up a fight, but was beaten up.
Another man repeatedly hit him with a golf club.
They then tied up the victim with his wife's clothes.

They then left him in one room and took his daughter and his wife to another room upstairs.

The woman, who study at a local university, pleaded to them to release her.

But they started beating her and threatened to kill.

The robbers took turns to rape her.

The husband, in his 20s, then rushed the woman to the hospital.

After the gang rape of the Kangkar Pulai housewife on February 28 last year, 22 men were rounded up in connection with the rape and robbery.

One of the detainees was found to be the mastermind behind the crime.

He was then detained by a special task force led by Johor CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Datuk Amer Awal.

******

Three months later in June, police launched massive hunt for four notorious Indonesian robbers.

They not only took away cash and valuables during a house break-in, but they also raped another housewife, the owner’s 50-year-old wife in full view of the man and his teenage daughter.

Ledang OCPD Supt Harun Idris earlier said police had rounded up 22 illegal immigrants to ascertain the whereabout of suspects.

The robbers broke into the house in Kampung Sengkang near Bukit Gambir in Johor at about 3.30am.

Armed with parang, they forced themselves into the house while the couple and four of their children were asleep.

They tied them before ransacking and taking RM1,300 and jewellery worth about RM5,000.

One of the robbers then decided to force himself upon the wife, in full view of the husband and their 13-year old daughter.