Singapore High Court heard on Monday that when a 23-year-old woman went to see her regular general physician, he allegedly touched her genital area during the examination process and raped her.
The woman claimed that she had gone to the Bedok clinic to see the accused, Wee Teong Boo, as she was facing an itch in her genitals and frequent urination issue. When she lay on the examination table, suddenly she felt that something was poking her and she became shocked after realising that the doctor was raping her.
Reports stated that on Monday, during the first day of the doctor's trial, the 67-year-old Wee refused to accept the allegations and pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and molestation.
Following the allegations, the Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz told the court that the victim, who cannot be named due to court's order, went to see the doctor in November 2014 for the first time because of the gastric and acne related issues.
DPP Sharmila added that on November 25, 2015, when she went to visit Wee to consult for gastric discomfort, she was asked to lie down on the examination table, as the accused said that he had to check her abdomen and then told her to unzip the jeans. She followed what Wee asked her, but during the procedure, the doctor stroked her genital area.
Even though the victim felt uncomfortable when the doctor touched her inappropriately, she did not raise her voice at that time, as she thought that it was a part of the medical examination, said the DPP.
A month later, on December 30, 2015, the victim, who is also a student went to see the doctor at around 11.30 pm, for a frequent urination and an itch in her genital area. During the court hearing the DPP said that the while examining her lower abdomen, Wee pushed her shorts lower and then started to rub her genital area. He also asked the woman that if that was the part she was complaining about and the victim said yes.
DPP Sharmila told the court that later, Wee asked the woman to pull down her shorts as well as underwear so that he could examine the genital area. Even though she pulled her clothes to her thighs, the accused removed them completely. Then the doctor positioned her in a way that he was in between her two legs. The woman will testify that after some time she heard a sound of a zipper and felt that something was poking her. She even saw that the doctor's body was moving.
When she complained about the pain, the accused repositioned her. The victim somehow saw that Wee's trouser was unzipped and then she realized that he was raping her. The shocked female asked the doctor to stop it. He listened to the woman, turned around and she heard a sound of the zipper again.
DPP further added that the victim quickly dressed and Wee started to behaved very normally. He also talked about the medications he prescribed to the victim. But the woman found that she was bleeding when she went to use the washroom of the clinic. After returning home, she washed her genital area and noticed the bloodstains.
The mother of the victim will testify that she found her daughter in an uneasy condition while lying on the bed in the early hours. Later, the woman told her mother about what happened in Wee's clinic.
In the same morning, the victim lodged a police complaint against the doctor. After a medical examination, reports showed two small superficial wounds in her genital area as well as a fresh hymenal tear. The court heard that during the examination the victim was in so much pain that gynaecologist could not proceed with further tests by using medical tools.
This is not the first time when a molestation incident took place during an examination or inside a clinic. Earlier an Indian-origin physiotherapist was sentenced to 11 months of jail term, including three strokes by cane for molesting an 18-year-old girl, who went for a physiotherapy massage session.
In Singapore, if a person found guilty of "Outrage of Modesty", the convict could face a jail term of up to 2 years, or a fine, or with caning, or a combination of all the three.
