41-year-old Raj Jumar Bala, the owner of a bar in Little India, went on trial on 10 August after being accused of molesting and raping a 17-year-old girl who ran away from the Singapore Girls’ Home and started working for him, according to The Straits Times.
The prosecution had lined up 13 witnesses to testify against Raj Kumar.
What happened?
The alleged offences took place between 21 February 2020 to 22 February 2020 at a rental flat.
A witness identified as B1, who had also run away from home, testified that she had been working and staying at Kumar’s bar in Dunlop Street after coming to know about the job opportunity from another witness, B2, who was also a runaway as well.
B1 had allegedly been assaulted by Kumar but continued staying at the bar because she was pregnant and a runaway.
The victim and a friend then learned from B2 about the job opportunity in February 2020 and went to interview for a job, and were hired by Raj Kumar who told them that she could stay at the bar with B1 and B2.
The bar was then raided on 21 February after someone acquainted with the runaway girls reported that they were working at Kumar’s bar.
He drove the three girls to a rented flat and said that they could stay there, before arranging for a staff to send their belongings over, as well as providing them with food and alcohol.
Kumar then proceeded to drink with the girls, with the victim then getting very drunk, before he allegedly engaged in obscene acts with the victim and B1 on the 2nd floor of the unit.
B1 then witnessed Kumar raping and molesting the victim, who couldn’t fend him off because she was too intoxicated.
The following morning, the victim told B2 that she was raped and left the flat, before heading to Kumar’s bar to collect her salary.
She then went to stay with a friend and told him about what had happened to her about 2-3 weeks later, before eventually turning herself in to the home (which she had run away from) on 20 July 2020.
On 5 August 2020, she then told her Ministry of Social and Family Development case worker that she had been raped.