Former Wah!Banana actor who raped woman he met on Tinder gets more than 11 years’ jail, caning

The high-profile verdict in March attracted comments from the former vice-president of the Law Society of Singapore Chia Boon Teck. In a post on LinkedIn, Mr Chia appeared to question the victim’s actions and made comments that were perceived as victim-shaming. 

His comments drew widespread backlash and outrage from the public, including members of the legal fraternity, and the Law Society asked him to resign from his post. 

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam also weighed in, stating that “shaming and blaming victims steps over the line” and that “any misogyny should have no place in our society”.

The prosecution’s case had been that Panfilov sexually assaulted the victim in his room on Jan 12, 2021, following a meet-up with the victim at a Wine Connection restaurant earlier that day. 

The victim, a model-actress and an aspiring comedy scriptwriter, wanted Panfilov’s help with her scriptwriting. 

They started working on the script at the restaurant and left to continue doing so at Panfilov’s residence. 

As the two were watching comedians on YouTube in his room, Panfilov suddenly kissed the victim on her lips, and subsequently sexually assaulted her. 

Over the next few days, the victim reported feeling depressed but decided against telling her mother or sister for fear of worrying them.

She finally decided to see a doctor as she worried about the pain in her vaginal area and lower abdomen, and was told by the doctor to lodge a police report. 

The victim then spoke to several police officers on Jan 16, 2021, but decided against lodging a report, worried that the police would not believe her and that others would find out about the incident. 

She also felt traumatised about having to explain what happened to the police officers. 

She lodged a police report on Jan 18, 2021, after having told her mother about the incident. 

The defence sought to argue that the victim had initiated the sexual encounter and that both then progressed to consensual sex.

Those convicted of rape can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and fined or caned.

The penalties for sexual assault by penetration are the same as those for rape.

Those convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.