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SINGAPORE – A 24-year-old businessman went on trial on Tuesday (September 29) for sexually abusing and assaulting his younger sister’s friend, who was staying at his family’s apartment after a night of drinking to celebrate Christmas.
Norvan Tan En Jie was 21 years old when he allegedly committed the crimes against the woman, then 19 years old, in the early morning of December 26, 2016.
He is challenging four charges, two for penetrative sexual assault and two for violation of modesty, for various sexual acts against the woman.
The woman, now 23, cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.
Tan was described by the lifestyle site Vulcan Post as a “serial entrepreneur” who had dabbled in five different businesses when he was 21 years old.
In 2018, he co-founded Beef Bro, a food company specializing in torch halal meat cubes, which currently has three outlets.
The court heard that the woman was Tan’s sister’s elementary school classmate, and the two women had met with friends for a drink on the night of Christmas Day 2016.
When the two women arrived at Tan’s apartment around 5.40am, he was in his room with two of his friends after a night of drinking.
After helping the alleged victim to the bathroom, Tan’s sister asked her to come out of her room so she could talk to one of her friends.
According to prosecutors, Tan pulled the woman out of the bathroom and placed her on the living room couch, but she returned to the bathroom to vomit.
Deputy Prosecutor Ng Yiwen said Tan then led the woman to her sister’s room, placed her on the bed, touched her breast and inserted his finger into her.
When the woman ran back to the kitchen bathroom to vomit once more, she felt someone pull down her shorts and underwear.
The DPP said the woman recognized Tan’s voice and resisted, but eventually sodomized her and left her in the bathroom.
Some time later, Tan’s sister returned to the bathroom and took the woman to her room.
The woman contacted several friends after the incident and told them that she was confused about what had happened to her and shared her suspicions that Tan had sexually assaulted her.
He also sent a text message to Tan’s sister, who revealed that he admitted to “touching” the alleged victim.
Made a police report on the night of December 27, 2016.
A forensic analysis showed that Tan’s semen was found on the outside of the woman’s shirt and his DNA was found on her underwear.
The prosecution will present psychiatric evidence to show that she was physically handicapped at the time of the sexual assault due to acute alcohol intoxication and that impaired her ability to consent.
Tan is represented by Mr. Amarjit Singh Sidhu.
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