Public Prosecutor v Chen Benzhong

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Christopher Tan Pheng Wee
• Judgment Date: 08 January 2020
• Neutral Citation: [2020] SGDC 5
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: DAC 917713 & MAC 905104 of 2018
• Published date: 16 January 2020
• Year: 2020
• Hearing Date: 18 November 2019,01 August 2019,02 August 2019,10 May 2019,15 November 2019,12 November 2019,03 July 2019,21 June 2019,10 October 2019,12 June 2019,08 May 2019,20 June 2019,05 August 2019,09 May 2019
• Plaintiff Counsel: Nicholas Lai & Joshua Lim
• Defendant Counsel: Accused in person
• Citation: [2020] SGDC 5

District Judge Christopher Tan Pheng Wee: Introduction

The Accused, a 45-year-old male, claimed trial to the following two charges: one count under s 354 of the Penal Code for outraging the modesty of the Complainant (“the s 354 charge”); and one count under s 354A of the Penal Code for aggravated outrage of modesty of the Complainant, with the use of wrongful restraint (“the s 354A charge”).

He was found guilty on both charges and sentenced as follows: Five months’ imprisonment for the s 354 charge; and Five years’ imprisonment and six strokes of the cane for the s 354A charge. Both imprisonment terms were ordered to run concurrently, giving a global sentence of five years’ imprisonment and six strokes of the cane.

The Accused has appealed against both conviction and sentence. He is on bail pending appeal.

Facts

The incidents in both charges (“the Incidents”) were alleged to have occurred in the Accused’s flat, on the night 3 September 2017. Prior to that, the Accused and the Complainant had met each other at four events, set out below: The CEO Group Event: Sometime in April 2017, the Complainant first got acquainted with the Accused at an event organised by a body called the CEO Group. Both of them had exchanged contact details then. The Brotzeit Dinner: Very shortly after the CEO Group Event, the Accused and the Complainant met for dinner at a restaurant called Brotzeit in Westgate, Jurong East. The Toastmasters Course: Sometime in August 2017, the Accused and the Complainant attended a course organised by the Toastmasters Club. During the course (which was held once a week over five weeks), they had occasion to speak to each other. The Bishan CC Speech Contest: On the evening of 3 September 2017, the Accused and the Complainant attended a speech contest at Bishan Community Club (“CC”). Later that night, they left Bishan CC and went to the Accused’s flat, where the Incidents allegedly occurred.

The testimonies of both the Complainant and the Accused revolved principally around these four events.

Prosecution’s Evidence

The Complainant testified that she met the Accused for the first time at the CEO Group Event, during which he was the official photographer. She had exchanged contact details with the Accused. Thereafter, they communicated via the WeChat platform. A log of the WeChat messages between the Accused and the Complainant, extracted by the police from the Complainant’s mobile phone, was adduced by the Prosecution as Exhibit P8A.

The very first message in Exhibit P8A was sent by the Accused to the Complainant on the night of 29 April 2017 (at 8.34pm). In that message, he had invited her to attend a course.¹ The Complainant could not recall the exact date of the CEO Group Event, but surmised that it ought to have taken place on the day of this message, ie, 29 April 2017.²

The Complainant testified that very shortly after the CEO Group Event, she met the Accused for the Brotzeit Dinner as he wanted to introduce her to a course in China.³ She deduced that if the CEO Group Event had indeed been held on 29 April 2017, the Brotzeit Dinner (which took place shortly after that) would have been sometime in early May 2017.⁴ In this respect, Exhibit P8A contained messages exchanged between the Accused and the Complainant on 30 April 2017, in which they had arranged to meet the next day, ie, on 1 May 2017. These messages, which continued to the early morning hours of 1 May 2017, are extracted below: ⁵

Date of Message	Time sent	Sender	WeChat message contents
30 April 2017	12.05pm	Accused	Sorry! Just realised it is 1 May, tomorrow
12.16pm	Complainant	Correct
12.16pm	Accused	Then see you tomorrow
12.22pm	Complainant	You yourself do not even know it is tomorrow?
12.22pm	Accused	Last night I thought it is today, probably wish to see you badly
1 May 2017	12.36am	Accused	What are you doing?
1.10am	Complainant	[Image attached]
1.10am	Accused	I do not dare to sleep alone [Sob][Sob]

The Complainant testified that during the Brotzeit Dinner, she told the Accused that she was in the business of selling beauty products.⁶ She could not recall if, at the end of that dinner, the Accused had given her a lift back.⁷

The next occasion on which the Complainant met the Accused was at the Toastmasters Course, held sometime in August 2017.⁸ According to the Complainant, she and the Accused bumped into each other once or twice during the course⁹ and may have exchanged simple greetings.¹⁰

During the window of time between 2 May 2017 (ie, the day after the Brotzeit Dinner, according to the Complainant’s timeline of events) and August 2017 (when the Toastmasters Course was held), the Accused and the Complainant messaged each other intermittently over the WeChat platform. The relevant messages, as captured in Exhibit P8A, are extracted below: ¹¹

Date of Message	Time sent	Sender	WhatsApp message contents
2 May 2017	8.40pm	Accused	How was today’s court session?
11.15pm	Complainant	Still alright
11.15pm	Accused	Want to meet?
11.23-11.24pm	Complainant	Another day Very tired today Very uncomfortable
4 May 2017	10.23am	Complainant	Have you gone overseas?
10.23am	Accused	Not yet, miss me?
10.40am	Complainant	Aren’t you going back these two days? When (are you) going back?
10.40am	Accused	You want to (go back) together?
10.40am	Complainant	I do not have visa
…
2 June 2017	12.11pm	Accused	What are you busy with! Goddess
6 June 2017	12.38pm	Complainant	I am in Singapore. You?
12.38pm	Accused	Your husband went back Singapore
1.01pm	Complainant	Is it important?
1.01pm	Accused	Important! Let’s meet? You always pull disappearing act(s)
1.11pm-1.13pm	Complainant	When did I disappear I am always in Singapore I am always contacting and meeting my team everyday
1.26pm	Accused	We are not meeting [Sob][ Sob][ Sob]
1 July 2017	9.29pm	Accused	What are you doing?
11.03pm	Complainant	[Audio file attached]
2 July 2017	1.37pm	Accused	Have not gone home yet?
3 July 2017	2.29am	Accused	Missing you baby [Rose][Rose][Rose][Rose]
5.18pm	Complainant	Really?
2 August 2017	11.24pm	Accused	Hi goddess! Reached home?
3 August 2017	5.13pm	Complainant	Sorry Just saw
5.13pm	Accused	[Sob][Sob]

The WeChat messages between the Accused and the Complainant ceased after 3 August 2017.

About a month thereafter, the messages between the Complainant and the Accused resumed but this time over the WhatsApp platform. The Complainant sent the Accused a WhatsApp message on 2 September 2017 (ie, one day before the Incidents), asking him if he could take photographs of her beauty products.¹² This triggered a series of WhatsApp messages between Accused and the Complainant. A log of the WhatsApp messages between them, extracted by the police from the Complainant’s mobile phone, was adduced by the Prosecution as Exhibit P8B.

The very first exchange captured by Exhibit P8B, triggered by the Complainant’s inquiry to the Accused about his photography services, is extracted below:¹³

Date of Message	Time sent	Sender	WhatsApp message contents
2 Sep 2017	3.46pm	Complainant	How are you? Can you help me take photograph(s) when you are free?
3.52pm	Accused	How do you want it/them to be taken?
3.54pm	Complainant	Look for you later Working now
3.57pm	Accused	How to repay me?
4.20pm	Complainant	Let’s have meal together
4.32pm	Accused	When?
6.09pm	Complainant	These few days

About two-and-a-half hours after the above exchange, the Accused sent another WhatsApp message to the Complainant, inviting her to attend the Bishan CC Speech Contest. The relevant exchange, as captured in Exhibit P8B, is extracted below:¹⁴

Date of Message	Time sent	Sender	WhatsApp message contents
2 Sep 2017	8.41- 8.42pm	Accused	Want to go listen to a humorous speech contest at Bishan tomorrow night? [Picture attached]
8.42pm	Complainant	Okay
9.06pm	Accused	Okay see you tomorrow night
9.39pm	Complainant	630 See you there
9.48pm	Accused	ok

Upon securing the Complainant’s agreement to attend the speech contest, the Accused followed up with an invitation to the Complainant to go to his flat. In doing so, he sought confirmation from the Complainant that her husband was overseas and asked if it was fine for her not to return home after visiting his flat. The relevant exchange, as captured in Exhibit P8B, is extracted below:¹⁵

Date of Message	Time sent	Sender	WhatsApp message contents
2 Sep 2017	9.48pm	Accused	Let’s chat a little later tomorrow night. Come to my house to chat okay?
10.15pm	Complainant	Oh…
11.32pm	Accused	Great! Come to my house tomorrow night He [ie, the Complainant’s husband] had gone back to Japan?
11.32pm	Complainant	Go to your house, is it safe? *Ha
11.39-11.40pm	Accused	Of course safe *La! Is it okay if you do not go home tomorrow? He [ie, the Complainant’s husband] is not in Singapore right?
12.51pm	Complainant	[Shocked face emoticon] See you tomorrow Good night

The Complainant testified that she found the Accused’s comments in the above exchange to be intrusive. She was shocked and thus chose to...