This one's pretty grim — a 41-year-old cemetery labourer has admitted to raping a 12-year-old homeless girl who had been living in the burial ground with her family.
The girl had been residing at the Lim Chu Kang cemetery site with her mother and younger sister in a tent in early 2012, The New Paper reports. The labourer — Roslan Jaafar — befriended the family after spotting the children playing with his son. The girls' mother sold flowers at the cemetery for a living.
Roslan would then start bringing the 12-year-old girl along with him — with her mother's permission — when he went out for errands to purchase cigarettes, food and drinks.
It was then that he started to take the girl to quiet spots and have consensual sex with her, telling her not to inform the mother about their trysts. Over the course of a month in May 2012, they had an illicit sexual relationship, doing the deed in Lim Chu Kang Hindu Cemetery and a park at Sungei Kadut.
Although the girl consented to having sex with the man, sexual intercourse with a girl under 14 (with or without consent) is considered rape.
The offences only came to light when the girl's uncle came to visit their tent in June 2012, who noticed that Roslan had taken his niece out for more than two hours. The worried uncle then scrolled through mobile phone to look for the labourer's number and noticed numerous text messages that revealed their unnatural relationship.
The uncle then confronted his niece when she returned. She broke down and told him everything.
A police report was lodged the next day, and Roslan was arrested last year.
In court yesterday, he pleaded guilty in the High Court to two counts of rape and one of sexual assault of a minor, while two other charges will be taken into consideration at a later date.
The family have since moved out of the cemetery.
Photo: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos via Flickr
This one's pretty grim — a 41-year-old cemetery labourer has admitted to raping a 12-year-old homeless girl who had been living in the burial ground with her family.
The girl had been residing at the Lim Chu Kang cemetery site with her mother and younger sister in a tent in early 2012, The New Paper reports. The labourer — Roslan Jaafar — befriended the family after spotting the children playing with his son. The girls' mother sold flowers at the cemetery for a living.
Roslan would then start bringing the 12-year-old girl along with him — with her mother's permission — when he went out for errands to purchase cigarettes, food and drinks.
It was then that he started to take the girl to quiet spots and have consensual sex with her, telling her not to inform the mother about their trysts. Over the course of a month in May 2012, they had an illicit sexual relationship, doing the deed in Lim Chu Kang Hindu Cemetery and a park at Sungei Kadut.
Although the girl consented to having sex with the man, sexual intercourse with a girl under 14 (with or without consent) is considered rape.
The offences only came to light when the girl's uncle came to visit their tent in June 2012, who noticed that Roslan had taken his niece out for more than two hours. The worried uncle then scrolled through mobile phone to look for the labourer's number and noticed numerous text messages that revealed their unnatural relationship.
The uncle then confronted his niece when she returned. She broke down and told him everything.
A police report was lodged the next day, and Roslan was arrested last year.
In court yesterday, he pleaded guilty in the High Court to two counts of rape and one of sexual assault of a minor, while two other charges will be taken into consideration at a later date.
The family have since moved out of the cemetery.
Photo: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos via Flickr