Indian-origin aircraft technician gets 12 yrs jail for rape

Singapore: An Indian-origin Singaporean has been jailed for 12 years and given 12 strokes of the cane for raping a 16-year-old girl in the back seat of his car. Sivakumar Selvarajah, 41, has been convicted on a charge of rape and two others of oral sex and outrage of modesty in the High Court here, The Straits Times reported today. But Justice Choo Han Teck cleared Sivakumar of a charge of impersonating as a police officer to get the girl with him in the vehicle. [caption id=“attachment_1058249” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Sivakumar, an aircraft technician, had posed as a police officer in July 2010 when he caught the girl being intimate with her boyfriend in a car in a suburb housing estate. He threatened to charge the two and gave the couple a choice – either they go with him to the police station, or the boyfriend leaves the place while he drives the girl home. The girl obeyed feeling scared, the prosecution told the court during the six-day trial held last month. While driving the girl back home, Sivakumar pressured the girl into having sex with him in the back of his car. Deputy Public Prosecutor S Sellakumaran argued that Sivakumar has concocted his story that the girl offered sex for 200 Singaporean dollars while being driven home. Sivakumar’s lawyer Foo Cheow Ming, pleaded for leniency, saying it as “plain” that no violence was involved and the victim did not sustain any injury. Sivakumar is appealing and out on a bail of 80,000 Singaporean dollars which was doubled since he was found guilty, according to the paper. Sivakumar flinched when the High Court convicted him and handed down the punishment. His wife, seated in the public gallery, was seen wiping away tears. PTI