PUBLIC PROSECUTOR v Mark Kalaivanan s/o Tamilarasan

Case Significance

Public Prosecutor v Mark Kalaivanan s/o Tamilarasan [2024] SGHC 73 was decided by the General Division of the High Court of Singapore on 15 March 2024, in Criminal Case No 64 of 2018, with grounds of decision delivered by Pang Khang Chau J following a trial conducted over numerous days between January 2020 and August 2023. The accused, Mark Kalaivanan s/o Tamilarasan, a Singaporean male who was 38 years old at the time of the offences and employed as a contract worker at Jurong Fishery Port, claimed trial to four charges: one charge of aggravated sexual assault by penetration punishable under s 376(4)(a)(ii) of the Penal Code (Cap 244, 2008 Rev Ed); one charge of house-trespass in order to commit sexual assault punishable under s 448 of the Penal Code; one charge of outrage of modesty punishable under s 354(1) of the Penal Code; and one charge of personating a public officer punishable under s 170 of the Penal Code.

The court convicted the accused on all four charges and sentenced him to 18 years' preventive detention and 12 strokes of the cane, and the accused appealed against the decision. The catchwords record that the case concerned offences of sexual offences, house-trespass and personating a public servant, together with sentencing by preventive detention. The Prosecution was represented by counsel including Wong Kok Weng, Chew Xin Ying and Tan Yen Seow of the Attorney-General's Chambers, with the accused represented by Riyach Hussain of H C Law Practice. The judgment also referenced the Criminal Justice Reform Act, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act.