Japanese man sentenced to 17.5 years in prison, 20 strokes of the cane in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A Japanese hairstylist has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison and 20 strokes of the cane in Singapore for what the judge described as a “brutal and cruel” assault and rape of a drunk student five years ago, his lawyer said Thursday.

Kita Ikko, 39, pleaded guilty Monday to one charge of rape, one charge of sexual assault by penetration, and one charge of making an obscene film, defense lawyer Adrian Wee told The Associated Press.

The Kyodo News Agency cited the Japanese Embassy in Singapore as saying that Kita is set to be the first Japanese person to be sentenced to caning in Singapore.

Singaporean law calls for caning male convicts under the age of 50 for a variety of offences including rape, drug trafficking, vandalism and robbery. It has drawn criticism from internal bodies but continue to be common.

Kita was arrested in December 2019 after the 20-year-old student lodged a police report. He met the victim for the first time at a riverside bar and took her to his home where prosecutors said he sexually assaulted and raped her. He also recorded the acts on his mobile phone and sent it to a friend.

Wee said Kita was out on bail until he was charged in May last year and remained in police custody until his guilty plea and sentencing this week.

“The assault that you have perpetrated on the victim was brutal and cruel," said Justice Aedit Abdullah. He found that the victim was so inebriated that she couldn’t walk by herself.

In a ruling Monday, he said Kita continued to attack her while she was unable to escape and that the ordeal had scarred the victim psychologically. The sentence will be backdated back to the date of his remand in May 2023.

In mitigation, Wee had argued that the rape was not planned and said Kita was not a “serial predator.”