SINGAPORE: A 48-year-old man admitted on Wednesday (Feb 4) to raping a domestic worker after he posed as a police officer, in a change of heart one day after he went on trial for the charges against him.
Sharveen Chetty, a Malaysian, pleaded guilty to one charge of raping the 35-year-old Indonesian woman at the bushes outside Exit F of Little India MRT station at about 8pm on July 11, 2022.
A second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer will be taken into consideration during sentencing on Feb 26.
Approached by The Straits Times after the hearing, Chetty’s lawyer, Mohamed Baiross, said his client had made the decision that morning to plead guilty, but he declined to disclose the reason, citing legal privilege.
The lawyer said his client had maintained for the past three years that the sexual encounter was consensual.
Chetty had initially contested the three charges in a High Court trial that began on Feb 3.
The witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial included a doctor at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital who examined the victim a day after the rapes, and forensic scientists from the Health Sciences Authority.
At the time of the offences, Chetty was employed by SBS Transit and was stationed at the Little India MRT station. He left the job more than three years ago.
On the day in question, he was carrying out patrolling duties when he came across the victim, who was with her boyfriend and two other migrant workers from India.
The group was sitting at a grass patch outside Exit D of the station.
At the time, Chetty was in his uniform, had a body-worn camera hanging from a lanyard on his neck and was carrying a patrol bag.
Chetty admitted that he became sexually attracted to the victim.
He was also aware the group comprised foreigners who might be unfamiliar with local authorities and decided to approach them while presenting himself as a person in authority.
Chetty deviated from his usual patrolling route and returned to the passenger service centre, where his personal belongings were kept.
There, he put on his own black jacket and brought along a torchlight. He also brought a cap with him but decided not to carry the patrol bag.
He admitted that he did this to change his appearance and to avoid being readily identified, and to reduce the likelihood that the group would associate him with his duties as station staff.
Aware that there were CCTV cameras within the MRT station, he went to Exit F and walked around the perimeter before approaching the group again.
He put on his black cap as a disguise before approaching the group, and identified himself as a police officer.
After he asked for identification documents, the three Indian nationals handed him their work permits. He kept up the pretence by using his body-worn camera to “check” the documents.
He then instructed the woman to follow him and the rest of the group to remain where they were. All of them complied.
Chetty then took the woman to some bushes nearby and kissed her.
When she pushed him away, he threatened to have her and the rest of the group blacklisted from working in Singapore.
Believing that he was a police officer, she complied with his instructions out of fear that he would carry out the threat.
He forced her to perform oral sex on him before making her lie down on the grass and raped her again.
After Chetty left, the distressed woman went back to her friends and told then what had happened.
They sought help from some auxiliary police officers, who then approached a policewoman on patrol duty in the vicinity.
The police officer lodged a report at about 8.50pm that day. - The Straits Times/ANN
