High Court finds ex-employer guilty of raping Filipina

The High Court in Admiralty

The High Court found a 36-year-old man from the West African country of Togo to be guilty of indecently assaulting and raping a Filipino domestic helper in 2015 in the home he shared with his wife and his daughter in Tuen Mun.

Voting six to one, a seven-member jury on May 16 took less than three hours to issue a guilty verdict on Kokou Afla Apelete.

Justice Esther Toh sent the jury to the jury room at around 11:40 p.m. Justice Toh said the jury should strive to reach a unanimous verdict, but she will accept a majority decision of either 6:1 or 5:2,  meaning two jurors, at most, could disagree with the other members of the jury.

At 2:30 p.m. or right after the lunch break, the jury indicated they were ready with the verdict.

Upon inquiry by the clerk of court, the jury’s foreman said they reached a verdict on the indecent assault case, but said it was not a unanimous decision. It was the same voting in the rape charge.

Justice Esther Toh adjourned the case for Apelete’s sentencing to May 17.

Before sending the jury to the jury room, Justice Toh reminded them to disregard their prejudices, and bring their collective wisdom, and common sense as men and women of Hong Kong into the room and assess the evidence presented to the court.

“Was she a truthful witness? Was she telling the truth?” Justice Toh told the jury, referring to the 31-year old Filipina, a mother of two, who gave evidence in court.

In her evidence, who was referred in court as “Madam X”, said she started to work for Apelete and his wife on Aug. 25, 2014.

She said she lived with her employers at their home in Tuen Mun. It was her first contract in Hong Kong, but she had also worked as a domestic helper in Singapore before coming to the city.

In February, April, and May, her male employer began asking her if she wanted to have a boyfriend in Hong Kong.

“No, I do not want to,” the witness said in Ilonggo, and was translated in English by a court interpreter.

She said the incident happened three times. The Filipina said she did not tell her female employer, who was at work when the incidents took place, about them because she did not want any trouble.

On Aug. 25, 2015, the Filipina said that at about 1 p.m., her male employer came home from work. Her female employer was at work, while the couple’s two-year-old daughter was also not at home and was being looked after by the mother of her female employer.

While having her lunch in the kitchen, her male employer, who was in the living room, called her and asked her to go to the living room.

In the living room, while standing on the space between a coffee table and the TV set, the Filipina said she was asked again by the defendant if she wanted a boyfriend in Hong Kong.

“I want you, I want you to be my girlfriend,” the Filipina said, quoting what Apelete told her.

She then replied that she did not want to have a boyfriend. She went back to the kitchen and washed the dishes, but she felt him following her in the kitchen.

While standing near the sink, the defendant then allegedly told her that if she would agree to be his girlfriend, he would take care of her, her children, and her family.

The defendant allegedly came closer to her, and she warned him the CCTV cameras were on.

But he allegedly said he turned them off, and asked her to look at him. He then went back to the living room, and then she went to the toilet to begin cleaning it.

The defendant allegedly followed her to the toilet and blocked her way by closing the door and standing by the doorway. He then repeated that he wanted the Filipina to be her girlfriend.

“I was afraid, nervous and worried that I might not have a job anymore and I cried,” the Filipina said when asked how she felt at the time.

The defendant then allegedly told her he would take care of her, her children, and her family and he will make her happy.

“I am contented with my salary and I do not need any of these,” the Filipina said when asked what her reply was to Apelete.

He then allegedly replied that she should be “practical” as she had come to Hong Kong so she could earn money.

He then started kissing her face, her breast and she tried to fight him off by crossing her arms on her chest but he held her hands. She added her employer sat on the toilet bowl, and she forced him on his lap and started kissing her face, and her breasts after pulling up her shirt and undoing her bra.

“Did you resist?” the prosecutor said.

“I couldn’t do it,” she said, adding that he was much stronger than her.

The Filipina started sobbing, and had to be asked by Justice Esther Toh if she needed a break and could continue giving her evidence in court.

The Filipina remained silent for a few minutes before telling the court interpreter that she could go on with her testimony.

She recalled that he then sat her on the wash basin in the toilet and took off her shirt and undid her bra. She said she wanted to jump from the sink but he was blocking her way, and then said that he wanted to kiss her again.

The Filipina added that he told her that if she wanted to leave the toilet, she would have to give him a hug.

“I wanted to go out so I hugged him,” she said.

Asked by the prosecutor if she was happy about giving the defendant a hug, the Filipina said “no”.

The defendant then left the toilet and then the Filipina went to her room to get some clothes because she wanted to take a bath as she felt “dirty” after the incident.

In her room, Apelete allegedly followed her and she saw him naked from the waist up, but was wearing a pair of black shorts.

He then pushed her onto the lower bunk of a double bunk bed in her room and started taking off her clothes.

The Filipina said she tried to cover the button of her shorts so he could not take it off, but said she was not strong enough to fight off the defendant.

She then again started sobbing, but continued to testify that the defendant pushed her legs apart.

“He put his what into my what,” the court interpreter then translated to the court what the witness was “literally saying”.

However, the prosecutor asked the Filipina to clarify what she meant.

“Do I have to say it?” the Filipina asked in a broken voice.

After being required to, the Filipina said the defendant “put his penis into my vagina”.

“It was painful, I told him it was painful, but he didn’t pay attention to me”,” the Filipina said sobbing.

She said the intercourse lasted for about five seconds, and the defendant allegedly told her that she “gave” herself “to him”.

Afterwards, she then saw him kneeling at the foot of the bed and was wiping off something from his penis.

The defendant then allegedly went to the toilet, while she stayed in her room and put back on her clothes.

After 15 minutes, she sent a Facebook message to “Razel”, another Filipina working in Hong Kong and her friend.

Asked why she did that, the Filipina said she “did not know what else to do.”

In cross-examination, the defendant’s lawyer asked the witness about a Facebook message she sent to Rayzel, stating “Hahaha, my vagina hurts”.

“Is this a joking matter?” the defense lawyer said.

The Filipina was unable to answer initially, but later on said she must have been confused and she should have typed “huhuhu, my vagina hurts”.

The defense also asked the witness why she did not scream even when she knew there were other flats in the floor of the building.

The Filipina said she did not scream because she was afraid the defendant would hurt her.

The defense claimed the Filipina and Apelete were having an affair and that she was providing sexual services for monetary rewards.

It was also claimed by the defense that the Filipina only complained to police because Apelete refused to give her $100,000 that she was demanding from him.

After the verdict was issued, the prosecutor said Apelete, 37, first came to Hong Kong in 2006 as a tourist, and then in 2011 married his wife, a Hong Kong woman, and in 2012, their daughter was born.

The defendant, who was working as a construction worker, had no previous criminal record in Hong Kong.

The prosecutor also said a victim impact report will be submitted to the court tomorrow morning.