SINGAPORE - In 2009, she was raped twice, dragged by her hair from room to room, poked and cut with a pair of scissors, strangled with raffia string and finally thrown out the window of a second storey flat.
The 26-year-old Indonesian maid survived the ordeal and will now testify in court against her alleged 42-year-old assailant.
The suspect, who is now 44, will not be named to protect the identity of the victim, who is now 29.
In the first day of the High Court trial yesterday, the prosecution said it would be calling 49 witnesses for the case including police officers, forensic scientists and the victim herself.
The accused faces five charges - two of aggravated rape and one each of attempted murder, causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, and trespassing.
On the morning of Sept 9, 2009 there was a power trip in the maid's employers' home. The suspect, who is also her neighbour, helped fix it.
The maid's employers later left the house at about 1.30pm leaving her alone at home. Her neighbour then rang the doorbell and asked if he could watch her eat lunch. She refused and closed the door.
While she was doing her chores after lunch, the power supply tripped for the second time that day.
She opened the door and gate of the flat to go out and reset the circuit box.
Her neighbour, who is a former security guard, approached her and asked her what had happened.
In the midst of the maid's explanation, he moved in front of her and pushed her into the flat before closing the door.
She tried to escape but was caught by the man.
The man dragged the struggling and screaming maid to the master bedroom where he raped her.
The New Paper reported that she struggled but, overpowering her, he dragged her into the children's bedroom, where he allegedly raped her a second time on the floor.
The man then dragged her to the kitchen, where he took a pair of scissors from a drawer and placed it against her neck.
He allegedly round raffia string around her neck and tried to strangle her. She fainted and when she regained consciousness, she was on a hospital bed.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Charlene Tay reportedly told the High Court that the assailant had also poked her in the abdomen and cut her chin with the scissors before throwing her out of the kitchen window.
Two policemen found her lying face-up at the bottom of the Central-East block. She was covered with a piece of Batik cloth and groaning in pain.
The accused was arrested near another block of flats in the neighbourhood, reported The Straits Times.
DPP Tay told the court that police officers will testify that they found clothes scattered around and liquid, strands of hair and blood stains on the floor when they entered the flat.
Forensic scientists will testify that a DNA profile obtained from the maid's body, clothes and a comforter in the master bedroom, was a match for the accused.
The victim's blood was found on the scissors, while the DNA profile from the string matched both the suspect's and the maid's.
The six-day trial continues today.
Of the five charges, attempted murder carried the heaviest penalty - a life term and caning if the accused is convicted.
If he is found guilty of rape, the man faces a jail term of between eight and 20 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane on each charge.
source: Asiaone
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