- Illustrative photo.
SINGAPORE: He threatened to send naked pictures of his victim to her father to compel her to follow him home, and then pointed a chopper at her to try to get her to have sex with him.
Muhammad Shahrul Nizam Zulkifli, 23, was sentenced by a district court on Wednesday (Aug 28) to three years and 20 weeks’ jail and six strokes of the cane.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal intimidation, a charge of outrage of modesty and a charge of threatening to distribute the victim’s intimate pictures. Another three similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The victim’s name and her relationship with Shahrul cannot be revealed due to a gag order protecting her identity.
The court heard that Shahrul met the victim outside her school at around 10.30pm on May 4, 2023, and asked her to follow him into a private-hire vehicle. She agreed as she thought he wanted to have a meal with her.
When the victim realised the vehicle was heading to Shahrul’s home, she said she did not want to go there. He forced her to comply by threatening to send nude photos of her to her father, knowing it would humiliate her.
When they took the lift to Shahrul’s home, he pointed a Swiss army knife at the victim to get her to follow him inside. In his bedroom, he took her mobile phone so she could not call for help.
Shahrul tried to talk to her for about an hour, and got angry when she refused to engage with him. He grabbed a chopper that was in his bedroom and pointed it at the victim.
He asked her for sex, but she refused. He then pushed her on the bed, lifted her T-shirt and bra and kissed her body.
When the victim started crying, Shahrul told her to go home but quickly changed his mind.
With the chopper next to him, he told her to perform a sex act on him.
She refused even when he grabbed her head and tried to force her to do so.
The furious Shahrul then pushed the victim to the floor and lifted the chopper as if to strike her.
She shouted at him to stop, and he did, fearful that his grandmother who was home would be alerted. He returned the phone to the victim and allowed her to leave.
Shahrul surrendered himself to the police on May 7, 2023.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Shaun Lim said Shahrul’s assault on the victim involved three separate actions and had brought her to tears.
He added that she was not able to seek help as she was confined in his room and he had taken away her phone.
Shahrul said in mitigation that he did not engage a lawyer to show his remorse and readiness to plead guilty.
He added that he hopes to make up for his wrongdoings and turn over a new leaf.
For outrage of modesty, Shahrul could have been jailed for between two years and 10 years and caned.
For criminal intimidation, he could have been jailed for up to two years and fined for each offence.
For threatening the distribution of an intimate image, he could have been jailed for up to five years, fined and caned. - The Straits Times/ANN
