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Construction supervisor on trial for raping woman twice

This article is more than 12 months old

A construction supervisor went on trial in the High Court yesterday for raping a tourist who was staying in another room in the same building in Geylang.

Bangladeshi national Hossain Anowar, 32, is accused of raping the woman once in a toilet and again in her room, both on the third level of the building in Lorong 8 Geylang, on Feb 29 last year. He is contesting both charges.

The woman, then 44, had come from China to visit her husband, who has been working here since 2004.

She arrived on Feb 20 last year and was scheduled to leave Singapore in about a month.

During her stay, the couple stayed in the room rented by her husband.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Kavita Uthrapathy and Yvonne Poon will be calling 23 witnesses.

According to the prosecution's opening address, in the early afternoon of Feb 29, Hossain, a tenant in another room, knocked on the woman's door while her husband was at work.

When she opened the door and saw him gesturing at her with a toothbrush, she understood it to mean that he wanted to borrow some toothpaste from her.

While she was in the toilet, Hossain allegedly locked the door and raped the struggling woman.

When she tried to leave after being raped, he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into her room, where he raped her again.

After he left, the woman phoned her husband to tell him about the sexual assault.

Her husband rushed back from work and told the landlord to meet him there.

The landlord called the police after he ascertained the identity of the suspect.

The woman was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital for a medical examination. Hossain's semen was found on swabs taken from her body as well as on tissue she had used after the alleged rapes.

Yesterday, the courtroom was cleared for the woman, who is now 46, to testify.

COURT & CRIMEGeylang