RE:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,136638,00.html?
8 GANG MEMBERS CHARGED WITH RAPE, CRIMES
23 July 2007
A MONTH ago, she was brutally robbed and gang-raped while her
boyfriend lay unconscious just metres away.
Now, 20-year-old May and her boyfriend, Ah Li, 22, want to come to
Singapore to work and start a new life.
Ah Li's older brother said that the two of them, who now live and
work in Pontian, Johor, are still recovering from the attack.
Ah Li, who was beaten up and slashed several times on the leg with
a parang, still needs crutches to walk and about a month or two to
recover.
May, a salesgirl, has a brother and sister who are already living
and working in Singapore, so the couple will probably live with
them.
The 11 Jun incident led to widespread public outcry against the
surge of violent crimes in Johor.
A group of four knife-wielding men abducted the couple near the
Second Link, and drove some 40km to an empty hut at a forested area
at Tampoi Indah before raping the girl.
China Press reported the couple's plans together with the news that
eight men were charged in court on Friday for multiple counts of
rape, unnatural sex, robbery and causing grievous hurt to four sets
of victims - including the four men who attacked May and Ah
Li.
All eight, aged between 19 and 31, are members of the same gang.
Several were charged for being involved in more than one of the
four cases, which took place in separate locations between 22May
and 11 Jun, reported the New Straits Times.
Two of the men - including a 31-year-old who is married with a
child - were charged with raping May and forcing her to perform
unnatural sex. A 29-year-old man was charged with raping her, while
a fourth man, 27, a Malaysian who works as a wireman in Singapore,
was charged with performing unnatural sex with her.
All eight pleaded
not guilty. The next hearing will be held on 26
Sep.
