Three years on since a horrifying night — in which a woman was violently raped in public on Chinese New Year eve — the rapist has been hurled a sentence that will see him jailed for nearly 17 years.
In court yesterday, 30-year-old Lim Choon Beng was given 16 years, 10 months and two weeks in jail as well as 22 strokes of the cane for the “shocking and brazen offence”, TODAY reports.
Lim’s intoxicated exploits on Feb 9, 2013 saw him raping a Chinese national three times in the span of 20 minutes, violently ripping her panties and dress while pulling her around the Robertson Quay area. At one point during the ordeal, he slammed the victim’s head against the wall of the Robertson 100 condo before raping her again.
The man had initially claimed trial, stating that he had no recollection of the rape — but he eventually pleaded guilty last Wednesday to two counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of aggravated outrage of modesty.
The 27-year-old victim reportedly broke down when she took the stand last week. The traumatic incident left her in fear of male strangers and still suffers from recurring nightmares since the attack.
Judicial Commissioner Foo Chee Hock stated that Lim’s actions shattered the notion that people can “walk safely on the roads of Singapore at any time of the day”.
