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SINGAPORE – A Singapore Management University (SMU) student who invited a 21-year-old college student from another institution to an overnight study session reportedly outraged her modesty on campus on January 8 last year.
Lee Yan Ru, now 24, is facing a sexual assault charge amid claims that he raped her in her sleep.
On the first day of the trial on Monday (September 7), Assistant District Attorney Andre Chong said that after the incident, Lee wiped his neck, face, and hair with a tissue, which he then threw away.
After the police were alerted, the pieces of tissue paper were recovered.
An examination by the Health Sciences Authority’s DNA Profiling Laboratory found that they contained Lee’s body fluids.
Swabs taken from the woman’s neck and face also produced similar results, the court heard.
The student cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.
In a previous interview with The Straits Times, the student said that she met Lee on Instagram. They also had mutual friends.
The alleged incident occurred in a study room of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of SMU.
Sergeant Wong Cheuk Kay, who testified Monday, said police were alerted at 6.37 a.m.
When they arrived on the scene about eight minutes later, Sergeant Wong saw the woman sitting on a bench, while Lee sat at a distance.
The court heard that Lee refused to speak to Sergeant Wong and his associate.
The student then recounted what happened, Sergeant Wong said.
They had been studying until around 2 a.m. when she felt tired and then watched some shows on Netflix together.
She said Lee suggested they watch the shows under a table as the lights were “on.” While they were under the table, she told Sergeant Wong that Lee touched her and tried to kiss her.
She thwarted his advances. At around 4 in the morning, she fell asleep but then felt a weight on top of her.
The student told the police officer that she noticed Lee was stimulating himself.
After he got out, she left the room and alerted the security guard Woo San Nin, who was on duty at SMU. She also called the police.
Woo, who also took the stand Monday, told District Judge Sharmila Sripathy that he saw a student kneeling as if he was apologizing to the woman.
In a previous statement, SMU said the case was being taken “very seriously.” Its spokesperson also said the university had embarked on its own internal investigation.
The trial continues. If convicted of sexual abuse, the offender can be imprisoned for up to two years and fined or punished.
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