A private-hire driver has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for raping a passenger and distributing obscene photos of her

SINGAPORE – Instead of driving her home, a private driver took a drunk passenger to a deserted open parking lot and raped her.

He also took obscene photos of the woman and shared them with a friend.

On Friday (May 17), 39-year-old Mohammad Noorandy Wahid was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 11 years in prison and nine strokes of the cane.

His sentence was made retroactive to April 27, 2022, when he was first remanded in custody.

He pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of distributing voyeuristic images.

Seven other charges of a similar nature were taken into account when reaching the verdict.

Due to a court order to protect her identity, the victim cannot be named.

WHAT HAPPENED

Noorandy was employed as a delivery driver and worked nights as a private driver for ride-hailing platform Ryde.

He met the victim, a 31-year-old woman, in December 2019 when he picked her up outside a club for the first time.

Since Noorandy often waited for passengers outside clubs, he drove the woman and her friends from club to club a few times.

On February 26, 2020, at approximately 10:50 p.m., the victim met her friend to go clubbing at LuLu’s Lounge at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

Later, around 12.30pm, they went to another club – Avenue at Marina Bay Sands.

At around 2:45 a.m. they left the avenue to go to another club. At the time, the victim had consumed a large amount of alcohol and was feeling intoxicated, according to court documents.

Noorandy saw the victim swaying back and forth and approached her.

He then drove the victim and her friend to another club, Bang Bang at the Pan Pacific Hotel, at the victim’s request.

Near the hotel lobby, the victim realized she could not find her cell phone.

She asked Noorandy to drive her back to Marina Bay Sands to look for it and told her friend to go to Bang Bang nightclub first.

The victim was sitting in the passenger seat and eventually found the phone in her bag.

At this point the victim felt very sleepy and was unable to stand and she asked Noorandy to take her home.

She fell asleep while driving.

Instead of driving her home, Noorandy drove to the Carros Center in Kranji, which he knew was deserted at the time.

There he pulled up the victim’s skirt and took five photos of her buttocks and genitals.

Noorandy sent the photos to an acquaintance via WhatsApp. One of the photos was a side profile of the victim and showed her face, which he captioned as a “bonus.”

At around 3.55am the victim woke up and Noorandy then pulled her up to look at him. He then kissed and raped her without using a condom. He only stopped when he thought he saw a police car nearby.

At around 4:05 a.m. he drove away from the scene and dropped the victim off at her home.

The victim reported the incident to the police the following day.

RISK OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei requested a prison sentence of 11 to 13.5 years and nine strokes of the cane for Noorandy.

She said Noorandy put the victim at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy by not using a condom.

He had previously been convicted of other traffic offenses including speeding and driving without a license.

Defense lawyer Doraraj Sinnnappan of Raj Govin Law told the court that although the victim was drunk, he was still conscious.

In imposing the sentence, Justice Dedar Singh Gill cited several aggravating factors.

He said the victim was in an extremely vulnerable state due to his drunkenness.

He added that as a private driver, Noorandy was obliged to provide passengers with a safe and uneventful journey.

He also noticed that Noorandy did not use a condom when he raped the woman.

For rape, Noorandy could have faced up to 20 years in prison, a fine or caning.