Rapist hairdresser becomes first Japanese in Singapore to get the cane

The Singapore High Court on Monday handed down the sentence to Ikko Kita, a 38-year-old hair stylist, for assaulting a then 20-year-old female Singaporean university student who was in a state of intoxication in the early hours of December 30, 2019.

Kita took the woman, whom he did not know, to his flat by taxi and engaged in non-consensual sexual acts with her while filming the encounter, according to court documents.

He was apprehended by police later that day and released on bail the following day. He was charged in a lower court in May last year and has been remanded since then.

Presiding Judge Aedit Abdullah said the assaults were “brutal and cruel” in the ruling, adding the sentence should be heavy given the circumstance of the offences committed against the victim, who was drunk and vulnerable.

Kita had pleaded guilty to the charges.

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Teens whipped for cuddling in Indonesia’s Aceh province

Under a Singapore law, a court can impose caning for serious offences such as rape, armed robbery and vandalism.

Singapore is among the Southeast Asian countries that use caning as a punishment.