A private-hire driver has been sentenced to 11 years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane for raping a drunk passenger in a deserted car park.
The 39-year-old Mohammad Noorandy Wahid was sentenced by the High Court on Friday (May 17) for the heinous crime, which took place in February 2020.
The sentence was backdated to April 27, 2022, when he was initially remanded. Wahid pleaded guilty to one charge of rape and one charge of distributing voyeuristic images, with seven additional charges of a similar nature taken into consideration during sentencing.
Due to a court order protecting her identity, the victim’s name cannot be disclosed.
On the night of the incident, the victim had been out clubbing with friends and had consumed a large amount of alcohol. Feeling intoxicated, she asked Noorandy to drive her home.
Instead of taking her home, Noorandy drove to a deserted car park in Kranji, where he took obscene photos of the victim before raping her.
He also shared the photos with a friend. The victim reported the crime to the police the next day.
DEATILS OF THE CASE
According to the report, Noorandy, who worked as a delivery driver and a private-hire driver for ride-hailing platform Ryde, got to know the 31-year-old victim outside a club in December 2019.
Noorandy frequently waited outside clubs to pick up passengers, and he drove the woman and her friends to different clubs a few times.
At around 10:50pm on February 26, 2020, the victim met her friend to go clubbing at LuLu’s Lounge at Pan Pacific Hotel. They later went to another club, Avenue at Marina Bay Sands, around 12:30am. At about 2:45am, they left Avenue to go to another club, with the victim feeling intoxicated at this point, the report added.
Noorandy, who had previously driven the victim and her friends on a few occasions, saw her swaying side to side and approached her. He then drove them to Bang Bang at Pan Pacific Hotel at the victim’s request, where she realized she had misplaced her mobile phone.
Upon realizing she couldn’t find her mobile phone near the hotel lobby, the victim requested Noorandy to drive her back to Marina Bay Sands to search for it. She instructed her friend to head to Bang Bang nightclub while she sat in the front passenger seat and eventually found her phone in her bag.
Feeling very drowsy, she then asked Noorandy to drive her home. She fell asleep during the journey. However, instead of taking her home, Noorandy drove to the deserted Carros Centre in Kranji, a location he was aware would be empty at that time.
There, he took inappropriate photos of her and proceeded to rape her. Noorandy sent the photos to an acquaintance through WhatsApp. One of the photos included a side profile of the victim, displaying her face, and he referred to it as a “bonus”.
He stopped when he thought he saw a police car nearby. At approximately 3:55am, the victim awoke and was then raped by Noorandy.
At around 4:05am, he left the location and dropped the victim off at her home.
The victim reported the incident to the police the following day.
SENTENCING
Noorandy, faced a sentence of 11 to 13.5 years’ imprisonment and nine strokes of the cane as requested by Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei.
This was due to his actions exposing the victim to the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy by not using protection.
Furthermore, his prior convictions for traffic offenses were highlighted as aggravating factors. Defense counsel Doraraj Sinnnappan argued that the victim, though intoxicated, still had some awareness.
In delivering the sentence, Justice Dedar Singh Gill emphasized the victim’s vulnerable state, the duty of care owed by a private-hire driver, and the lack of protection used during the rape.
The maximum penalty for rape, according to the law, is 20 years in jail, a fine, or caning.
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