More than 14 years' jail, caning for man who raped his wife

He is believed to be the first to be convicted after immunity for husbands was repealed

- Selina Lum

After slapping his wife and threatening to beat her to death with a metal rod, a man sexually assaulted and raped the woman.

The 42-year-old man initially claimed trial for most of the charges he faced relating to the incident, which took place in November 2020.

He contended that the sexual acts were consensual.

But after two days of trial, during which the woman testified on the stand, the man decided to plead guilty.

On March 4, he was sentenced by the High Court to a jail term of 14 years, three months and eight weeks, and 12 strokes of the cane.

The man is believed to be the first person convicted of raping his wife after immunity for husbands was repealed with effect from Jan 1, 2020.

He had pleaded guilty to one count of rape, one count of outrage of modesty and one count of voluntarily causing hurt.

Six other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

A gag order prohibits the publication of any details leading to the identification of both the woman and the man, as well as the location where the incident took place.

The couple, who have three children, are foreigners who worked in Singapore at the time.