Man pretends to be cop to rape girl, 16
He confronted teen couple who were making out, claimed to be cop and allegedly raped girl
He allegedly told a teenage couple that he was a policeman after spying on them as they were making out at a staircase landing in an HDB block.
Believing Muhammad Firman Jumali Chew's claims, the boy and his girlfriend, who were both 16 years old at that time, obeyed his orders. They were afraid that he would tell their parents, schools and the police about their sexual activities.
Firman, who was a pizza delivery man, then allegedly lured the young girl away before raping her.
He is now accused of rape, sexual assault by penetration and pretending to be a police officer.
Now 30, Firman, who is married and has a child, appeared calm in the dock on the first day of his trial yesterday.
In her opening address, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz told the court that the couple were behaving intimately at a staircase landing on the 11th storey of Block 362, Woodlands Avenue 5, in the afternoon of Oct 9, 2013, when the girl spotted someone peering at them from above.
Her boyfriend, who cannot be named to protect her identity, noticed Firman allegedly hiding behind a wall at the 12th storey of the stairwell.
Alarmed, the young couple quickly left the landing and were waiting for the lift when Firman approached them.
He allegedly told them he was a police officer and asked them to produce their identity cards. The teenagers complied as they believed him.
According to court documents, Firman told the boy to leave after returning his card as he wanted to talk to the girl alone.
The court heard that a witness, Mr Tung Shue Kiong, was at the 12th storey of the block when he heard a male voice say, "Officer".
After that, he saw Firman walking away with the girl.
Firman led her to the fifth storey of nearby Block 359, said DPP Sharmila.
She added: "When the victim begged the accused not to tell anyone, he asked her what he would get in return for remaining silent.
"The victim will testify that she offered him money for helping her."
However, he allegedly forced the girl to perform oral sex on him and raped her at a staircase landing between the fifth and sixth storeys of the block between 4.50pm and 6pm that day.
After that, they went to Woodlands Bus Interchange, where Firman returned the girl her identity card.
Meantime, Mr Tung went down to the first storey of Block 362 and saw the boy pacing around nervously there.
He helped the teenager look for his girlfriend for about an hour but to no avail.
Mr Tung then followed the boy to the interchange and saw Firman.
When confronted and asked about what he had done with the girl, he allegedly claimed that he had left his warrant card at home.
SOBBING
DPP Sharmila said that the alleged victim's family friend also turned up at the interchange that evening and noted that the girl was scared, distraught and sobbing at various junctures.
While they were on their way to the Singaporean girl's home in Johor Baru, she told the friend about her alleged ordeal, and that she had not struggled as she was "in a state of fear".
She also told her boyfriend about what allegedly happened when he called her mobile phone.
The girl returned to Singapore that same evening to lodge a police report.
DPP Sharmila said: "Against the accused's claims that he did not engage in any sexually penetrative acts with the victim, the court will hear that his semen was found on various items of the victim's clothes, including the inside of her panties."
She also said that on Oct 10, 2013, a day after the alleged rape, Firman researched on rape and fellatio on his mobile phone.
"Images extracted from his mobile phone will be tendered in evidence to prove this," said DPP Sharmila.
Firman, who is represented by lawyers Ravinderpal Singh and James Ow Yong, is currently out on bail.
Initially calm, the well-built man became agitated when a photographer from this newspaper snapped his pictures in public outside the Supreme Court after the hearing ended yesterday evening.
Accompanied by two unidentified women, he snatched the photographer's camera and accused her of "harassing" him.
He returned the camera after police officers arrived at the scene.
The trial resumes today.
If convicted of rape, Firman can be jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.
He can also be jailed for 20 years and fined or caned if found guilty of sexual assault by penetration.
If convicted of pretending to be a police officer, Firman can be jailed up to two years and fined.
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