Section 376 of the Penal Code of Singapore states:
Sexual assault involving penetration
376.— (1) Any man (A) who causes another man (B) to penetrate with B’s penis, the anus or mouth of A —
(a) without B’s consent; or
(b) with or without B’s consent, when B is below 14 years of age, shall be guilty of an offence.
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(2) Any person (A) who —
(a) sexually penetrates, with a part of A’s body (other than A’s penis, if a man) or anything else, the vagina or anus, as the case may be, of another person (B);
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(b) causes a man (B) to penetrate, with B’s penis, the vagina, anus or mouth, as the case may be, of another person including A; or
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(c) causes another person (B), to sexually penetrate, with a part of B’s body (other than B’s penis, if a man) or anything else, the vagina or anus, as the case may be, of any person including A or B, shall be guilty of an offence if B did not consent to the penetration or if B is below 14 years of age, whether B did or did not consent to the penetration.
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(3) Subject to subsection (4), a person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning.
(4) Whoever —
(a) in order to commit or to facilitate the commission of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) —
(i) voluntarily causes hurt to any person; or
(ii) puts any person in fear of death or hurt to himself or any other person;
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(b) commits an offence under subsection (1) or (2) against a person below 14 years of age without that person’s consent; or
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(c) commits an offence under subsection (1) or (2) against a person below 14 years of age with whom the offender is in a relationship that is exploitative of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than 8 years and not more than 20 years and shall also be punished with caning with not less than 12 strokes.
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(5) No person shall be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) —
(a) for an act of penetration against his or her spouse with the consent of that spouse; or
(b) if despite section 79, that person proves that by reason of mistake of fact in good faith, the person believed that B mentioned in those subsections did consent to the penetration and B was not below 14 years of age.
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
(6) No man shall be punished under subsection (4)(b) if he proves that by reason of mistake of fact in good faith, he believed that the act of penetration against a person below 14 years of age was done with consent.
[Act 15 of 2019 wef 01/01/2020]
Recent cases[]
On Thursday, 23 August 2018, a 38-year old Singaporean father of three who was originally from Sri Lanka was sentenced to 6 years' jail and 3 strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to performing oral sex without consent on 11 November 2017 on his sleeping 28-year old Malaysian tenant who was a cook and who had lived in the perpetrator's Kim Keat Avenue flat in Toa Payoh for about 4 months[1],[2].
On 21 November 2018, a 35-year old male security guard pleaded guilty to one count of performing non-consensual oral sex on 6 May 2017 on a drunk 36-year old assistant building manager with an asset management firm, who was lying motionless on the floor of a toilet in Suntec City after a heavy drinking session. He was sentenced to 6 years' jail and 3 strokes of the cane[3].
On Tuesday, 3 March 2020, a 46-year old Thai tour coordinator was sentenced to 5½ years' jail with 3 strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to one count of performing non-consensual oral sex on a sleeping 33-year old Thai male roommate in Hotel Grand Central without his consent on 27 March 2019[4].
See also[]
References[]
- Section 376 of the Penal Code, Singapore Statutes Online[5].
Acknowledgements[]
This article was written by Roy Tan.