His girlfriend had been led away by a man who allegedly claimed to be a policeman.
When a passerby told him that the man was not a cop, the worried boyfriend tried to call the girl, then 16, to warn her.
She answered her phone when he called her, only to tell him that she would call him back before she hung up, the court heard yesterday.
He did not get a chance to warn her of the alleged impostor and frantically started looking for her.
By the time he found her, she could only cry and say she was afraid he would leave her.
Muhammad Firman Jumali Chew, who was a pizza delivery man, is now on trial for one count each of rape, sexual assault by penetration and pretending to be a police officer.
Now aged 30, the married man and father-of-one is accused of pretending to be a policeman before raping the teenage girl and forcing her to perform oral sex on him at a staircase landing between the fifth and sixth storeys of Block 359 Woodlands Avenue 5. The incident occurred sometime between 4.50pm and 6pm on Oct 9, 2013.
Testifying on the second day of the trial, the victim’s then-boyfriend, now an 18-year-old ITE student, said he had been in a relationship with the alleged rape victim for four months. Both were just 16 then.
While together, he admitted they had gone to Block 362, which is near Block 359, “many times” to have sexual intercourse. He cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity.
He said in his police statement that they were having sex at a staircase landing on the 11th storey at around 4pm on Oct 9, 2013, when the girl spotted someone spying on them from an upper level.
The boy said they decided to leave after he went up to the 12th storey and saw Firman hiding beside a wooden door to the stairwell. They were waiting for a lift on the 11th storey when Firman came forward and allegedly told them he was a police officer and would take action on them.
The boy said in his statement on Oct 29, 2014 that Firman told him to leave as he wanted to talk to the girl alone. The boy told her he would wait for her at the void deck.
Firman then allegedly took his victim to Block 359, where he raped her.
When defence lawyer, Mr Ravinderpal Singh, cross-examined him yesterday, the boy testified that Firman was then not wearing a uniform or anything else to indicate he was a police officer.
While the boy was waiting for the girl, the court heard that a witness from Block 362, Mr Tung Shue Kiong, told him that Firman was not a policeman. The boy and Mr Tung decided to look for the girl, but could not find her.
The boy was about to go home when she phoned him, crying, saying she was scared and asked him to meet her at Woodlands Bus Interchange.
When the boy got there with Mr Tung, they spotted Firman in front of a provision shop. He also saw his girlfriend queueing for a bus.
CRYING
While Mr Tung spoke to Firman, the boy went to the girl, pulled her aside and asked her what had happened.
In his statement, he said: “I brought her to (Mr Tung) who was still talking to (Firman).
“She kept crying and kept telling me not to and said she was scared. But I just pulled her.
“(Mr Tung) asked (her) if that was the man. She was still crying and nodded her head with her hand pointing at (Firman).”
The boy said she ran off when bus number 950 pulled up, telling him that her family friend was waiting for her.
The boy also said in his statement that he heard Firman telling Mr Tung that he had not done anything to the girl.
Instead, he claimed they had walked around and he had bought her a drink.
The boy said he went home after Mr Tung allowed Firman to leave.
A police officer testified that Firman was arrested at around 9.25pm two days later as he and his wife were headed to Malaysia through Woodlands Checkpoint.
The trial resumes today.
If convicted of rape, Firman could be jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.
This article was first published on May 26, 2016.
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