SHE was 12 and starting to discover her sexuality.
Through friends and the Internet, she met guys who were at least
six years older than her.
Typically, after brief, casual exchanges, they would end up having
sex.
And they would do it brazenly in open staircase landings of HDB
blocks.
In the past year alone, Norah (not her real name) has had sex this
way with three young men aged 18 to 23.
Last Thursday, the men pleaded guilty to having sex with a
minor.
Muhammad Fendi, 23, was jailed a year on two counts of sex with an
underage girl, while Muhammad Hafiz, 19, was fined $8,000 on one
count.
They could have been jailed up to five years and fined up to
$10,000.
The third man, Rizwan Rahim, 18, is awaiting his sentence on May 16
pending a probation report.
The age of consent for sexual activities is 16. It is illegal for
any man to have sex with a girl below that age, unless they are
married.
Norah's case is the latest to highlight a worrying trend - young
teens who are sexually curious and active, and men who are not
averse to exploiting that.
The number of men charged with having sex with underaged girls has
nearly doubled in five years, from 114 cases in 2001 to 217 last
year. (See report on facing page.)
In March last year, Muhammad Fendi saw his chance when he was
introduced to Norah through her friends.
The 12-year-old, who was in Secondary 1 then, told him she was
13.
While chatting at the void deck of a block, Muhammad Fendi asked
her to be his girlfriend. She thought it over for a few days and
then agreed.
Soon, they met again at the same block.
This was when he persuaded her to have sex. And they did it openly
at a third-floor staircase landing.
A few days later, they returned to the same spot and had sex
again.
Soon after, she decided to stop seeing him.
WENT ONLINE
A month after she met Muhammad Fendi, Norah started chatting with
Rizwan Rahim, 18, on the Internet.
In the course of their chat, she told him that she was 13.
They did not meet face-to-face until October, when he visited her
after Hari Raya. That was when she confessed to him that she was
only really turning 13 in November.
In December, they met to have lunch near her home.
After that, they walked over to a staircase landing on the second
floor of a block of flats to chat, and ended up having sex.
Court papers stated that Rizwan broke up with her in early January
this year and they stopped contacting each other.
ASKED FOR SEX
Later in January, court papers stated that Norah pestered a friend
to introduce her to a guy.
The guy, Muhammad Hafiz, 19, agreed to meet Norah at the void deck
of a block of flats.
Again, she made herself a year older than she was, saying she was
14.
But this time, it was her who persuaded him to have sex.
Taken in by her sweet words, Muhammad Hafiz led her to a staircase
landing at the 16th floor where they started kissing and had
sex.
After that, the two parted ways and did not meet again.
Court documents showed that it was Norah's mother who found out
about the sexual activities, but it was not clear how.
Upset, she took her daughter to the police station to lodge a
report against the men.
