Ex-lifeguard raped party-goer after getting her drunk
Former Sentosa lifeguard convicted of rape and sexual assault of drunk 20-year-old at beach party
It was the first time they had met.
But then-Sentosa lifeguard Pram Nair, now 26, plied the young woman with so much alcohol during a beach party on the island that she blacked out.
He then isolated her from her friend and raped her at Siloso Beach in the wee hours of May 6, 2012.
After a 15-day trial, Justice Woo Bih Li found him guilty yesterday of one count each of rape and sexual assault by penetration.
In their submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutors Bhajanvir Singh, Kavita Uthrapathy and Kenneth Chin said the victim and a friend had gone to the Wave House club and restaurant on Sentosa's Siloso beach for a girls' night out at around 11pm on May 5, 2012.
Nair started chatting with the two women while they were at a bar counter.
According to the prosecution, when he found out the victim had just turned 20, he suggested they play a game in which he would pour Cointreau - an orange-flavoured liqueur - directly from the bottle into her mouth for 20 seconds. The victim agreed and downed the liqueur while he poured it and counted to 20.
The prosecution said: "Before the accused poured the alcohol into her mouth, she was tipsy and a little bit drunk and still knew what was happening but not so in control any more.
"It was only after 20 seconds of chugging Cointreau directly from the bottle that her night started to black out."
In her testimony, the victim, who had low alcohol tolerance, admitted she had drunk a lot during the beach party.
By the time she went to the VIP section of the Wave House, she already had "pockets" of black outs in her memory.
'REALLY DRUNK'
When her friend later saw the victim, she looked "really drunk" and Nair was supporting her.
The friend recalled that the victim could not stand without support and was unable to speak in full sentences.
She decided it was time to leave and Nair asked her to go to the VIP section to retrieve the victim's bag.
But when she returned, Nair and the victim were gone. At around 2am on May 6, 2012, he took her to a quiet part of Siloso beach where he raped and sexually penetrated her.
The prosecution said: "She remembered crying and saying, 'No no no', as she tried to push the accused away but she was too weak and drunk. The accused persisted with the sexual assault."
A passer-by, Mr Kason Tan Jia Rong, saw Nair committing the offences and informed the police.
The victim's friend later found Nair and the woman on the beach. She was clad in only a tank top and was naked from the waist down.
Before walking away, he lied to the friend, claiming he had found the victim completely naked on the beach.
The friend called for an ambulance after seeing the victim foaming at the mouth and they went to the Singapore General Hospital.
Police officers also arrived at the scene and arrested Nair.
In court, he testified that the sexual encounters were consensual.
Nair, who is represented by lawyer Peter Ong, claimed the woman said she liked him and told him: "Please take me away from all the guys."
According to him, they then went to Siloso beach and started engaging in sexual activities.
He also claimed that the woman was fully aware of her surroundings throughout the night.
However, in their submission, the prosecution said: "The accused had preyed on the victim's drunken state and vulnerability in not being able to defend herself - robbing the victim of her bodily integrity."
Nair was offered bail of $60,000 and will be sentenced at a later date.
For each offence, he could be jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.
The accused had preyed on the victim's drunken state and vulnerability in not being able to defend herself - robbing the victim of her bodily integrity.
- The prosecution in its written submission
Victim: 'I felt like ripping my skin off'
In the prosecution's submissions, the victim's testimony in the case against ex-Sentosa lifeguard Pram Nair was included.
Here are excerpts of her response after she was asked how the rape had affected her:
SORRY TO HER PARENTS
"I've never been more sorry to my parents because they raised me up really well, and because I was disobedient and went out on that one night, that night 5th May 2012, it brought so much pain that there's a long time after that where I couldn't even lie in my bed without feeling like ripping my own skin off because I just couldn't remove myself from what happened to me..."
AFRAID OF HIV
"I was so terrified that he could have given me HIV or something because he was some disgusting stranger to me that my dad and I had to go to a medical place and ask them for HIV prevention medicine that would be really detrimental to my health."
PAINFUL, EXPENSIVE LESSON
"I just went through really 'hell time' but my family was there for me. It taught me a very expensive lesson. I was far too trusting of my environment in the past before I knew that there are people out there who think it is okay to rape someone because they are too drunk to say no. Oh well, I did say 'no' but it has taught me to be wiser for sure, but it was a painful, painful lesson that I'll never forget, sadly."
STRONGER
"Even though 3 years have passed, my life is happy, I've moved on, I have (indistinct) my studies and I just... became a stronger person but I am not going to lie, that there are still nights where I am in bed, even sometimes not alone in bed, even when I (am) next to my boyfriend that I just feel disgusted with myself, because never in a million years, whether I am sober or drunk or... would I have ever consented to sleeping with Pram. That was just a violation of my rights as a partygoer with my friends."
NO LONGER DEPRESSED
"I am just thankful that I am here today, that I'm still strong and I'm happy and I'm not in depression anymore. And when I leave the courtroom today, I will be going back to my family who loves me and a bright future, then I really just want to put this behind me and never have to see him again or think of him again or see his name again or recall all the horrible things that happened on that night."
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