Medium gives woman 'holy water' and rapes her
She thought she sensed a supernatural presence at home and she sought a medium's help to get rid of it.
The man she went to for help, Ow Siew Hoe, also known as Ow-Yong Siew Hoe, convinced the sales assistant that she was a victim of black magic.
The victim, who was then 35, trusted him and went to his flat to collect items he said she could use against the so-called "ghosts".
But he raped her when she felt drowsy after drinking a cup of "holy water" that he had given her.
Ow, 49, pleaded guilty yesterday to raping the sales assistant in his flat at Block 183, Bukit Batok West Avenue 8, on Feb 25, 2014.
A second count of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration will be taken into consideration during sentencing.
The problem began after the woman's father-in-law and his girlfriend moved into her flat in the north-eastern part of Singapore in January 2014.
About a month later, the woman, a Malaysian who is married to a Singaporean, thought she could sense ghosts in her flat and consulted a tarot card reader about the matter.
The reader, who was not named in court documents, told her the "supernatural being" had been brought into her home by her father-in-law's girlfriend.
The woman was also advised not to consume any food given to her by the couple.
On Feb 18, 2014, she told her mother-in-law about her concerns and the older woman recalled that her sister knew Ow.
The woman invited Ow to the flat two days later.
He inspected the unit and warned the woman that many "dirty things" would come into her home as it faced a direction that was not auspicious that year.
The next day, Ow told the woman that her father-in-law and his girlfriend had cast black magic on her food.
She went to Ow's flat at around 2pm on Feb 25, 2014. He later gave her a cup of "holy water" and she felt drowsy after drinking it.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) David Khoo said Ow told her it was normal because the "holy water'' was for removing the dirty things from her body.
She could barely keep her eyes open when he led her into a bedroom and raped her.
After asking her to wash up, he took her downstairs and hailed a taxi for her.
When the woman later called Ow to ask him why he had raped her, he avoided her question.
Instead, he told her that he had fought with ghosts in her flat.
GHOSTS
DPP Khoo told Justice Chan Seng Onn: "He said that he had hurt two ghosts after negotiations with them had failed and that he needed his sperm to save the two ghosts."
Ow had claimed that failure to save the two ghosts he had hurt would mean death for the victim or her husband.
The court also heard that according to Ow, he was forced to rape the woman.
The next day, the medium called the woman, asking her to delete all evidence of the phone calls between them. She was also told to delete his number from her phone.
She refused and made a police report on Feb 27, 2014.
Officers arrested Ow the next day.
Yesterday, the court heard that seven blister packs of Xanax - a medication that contains alprazolam, a sedative - were recovered from Ow's flat.
Midazolam or Dormicum, which is a type of sleeping pill, was also detected on a stone pestle and mortar seized from the unit.
According to a report by Dr Kenneth G.W.W. Koh from the Institute of Mental Health, it was possible for the woman to have experienced diarrhoea, giddiness and loss of consciousness if she had been administered alprazolam or midazolam.
However, court documents did not mention if she was indeed given those substances.
Ow's lawyer, Mr Ramesh Tiwary, told Justice Chan yesterday he was still awaiting his client's medical reports.
The case has been adjourned to a later date.
For rape, Ow can be jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.
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