A Singaporean man allegedly groomed his daughter for over eight years before raping her when she was 12.
Now on trial, the 36-year-old man faces 13 charges, including rape, aggravated sexual assault by penetration, and showing his daughter pornography.
The trial will continue for the rest of the week, with the victim, now 15, expected to testify in court for the most part.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the prosecution said the abuse first started sometime in 2012 or 2013.
The girl, then in kindergarten, had been in the bathroom showering with her father and younger brother. Her father poured a drink over himself before asking his daughter to commit an indecent act on him.
When she was in Primary 3 or Primary 4, the man showed his daughter pornography. He began to sexually assault her after she reached puberty in 2018 or 2019.
His abuse occurred in various locations, such as under a study table in the master bedroom, within the bedroom itself, in a storeroom, in the family car, in a dining area, at a staircase and on an upper bunk bed.
The prosecution said in Aug 2019, he raped his daughter in the master bedroom. She was 12 at the time.
Around a month after the incident, she was meant to be studying for her Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) when he sexually assaulted her again.
The prosecution alleged that the man had convinced her she would be in trouble if she confessed to anyone regarding the abuse. He told her not to tell anyone about the repeated assaults, including her mother.
CNA reports that the girl then started to self-harm. One of her teachers will testify that she witnessed the cuts on her wrist on 3 Sep 2019.
When she was in Primary 6, she told her closest friends and schoolmates about the abuse.
One of them informed her mother, who then alerted the school. The prosecution will bring some of her friends as witnesses for the trial.
The prosecution also pointed out that from the end of Aug to Sep 2019, the girl thought of running away from home to escape the abuse.
They labelled it a case of “persistent and perverse sexual abuse at the hands of her biological father.”
This young victim, who is now estranged from her family, now boldly testifies in person before this court three years after the police report was made.
The prosecutors will produce evidence from 46 witnesses for the trial, including the girl’s form teacher, school counsellor and principal.
As she is still a minor, the court has provided shielding measures so the girl would not have to see the accused. The court heard her testimony in private.
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Featured image by MS News.
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