SINGAPORE, June 8 — After years of silence, the survivor of a deeply disturbing rape case in Singapore involving her husband and six other men shared her story with The Straits Times in the hope of helping others.

Annie (not her real name) used to break down reading her husband’s letters from prison. Now, she barely glances at them.

“I don’t love him anymore,” she said quietly. “I’ve let go and moved on.”

Her husband, known only as “J” in court reports, is at the heart of one of Singapore’s most disturbing sex crime cases: a calculated and brutal scheme where four men drugged their wives and allowed others to rape them. Annie was the first known victim — and the woman at the centre of it all.

J, who recruited the most accomplices, drugged Annie and facilitated her rape by five men, one of whom attacked her on their wedding anniversary.

She told her story to The Straits Times twice — first in 2024 and again in May 2025 on camera. The pain was raw.

“I really hate him for making me go through this,” she said through tears.

“But I tell myself I have to go on.”

Annie met J in 2008 at a karaoke bar. She was in her 20s, drawn in by his humour and charm. Within months, she was pregnant and reluctantly married him.

“I told him, ‘I don’t feel secure with you,’” she recalled. He promised he had changed.

But shortly after their first child was born, Annie discovered he had been checking into hotels regularly. At first, he lied, then claimed a woman was “just giving massages.”

She forgave him, wanting to keep the family intact.

“I didn’t want my child to grow up in a broken home,” said Annie, who had been raised by a single mother.

But the cycle repeated. Even during her second pregnancy, she caught J lying about his whereabouts.

Eventually, Annie herself had a brief affair — something J would later use to justify his actions.

Unbeknownst to her, J had already been planning her violation, exchanging fantasies with a man she had contacted briefly online.

“He even gave him details about me — where I studied, what drinks I liked,” she said.

“Everything was so nicely plotted. I thought it was my fault.”

There were signs. J installed a camera in their bedroom, supposedly to watch their children — but later shared access online, where strangers watched them have sex. Another time, he called someone to listen in as they were intimate.

Annie was furious. Her mother-in-law slapped J and told him: “This is your wife, not some prostitute.”

Annie suggested counselling, but gave up when only group therapy was available.

“I just felt hopeful,” she said. “I wanted a happy family.”

He remained outwardly devoted to their children and successful in his job, so she kept forgiving him.

Everything unravelled on New Year’s Day in 2020. Annie came home from a party and found sexually explicit messages on J’s phone, including photos of herself — blindfolded and unconscious.

“I felt very blank. I couldn’t believe he had done this to me,” she said.

She confronted him, but he refused to explain. Her family urged her to go to the police. At first, she didn’t — afraid of what it might mean for her children.

Later, she confronted one of the men mentioned in the chat, referred to as “K”, and he admitted to raping her. Her sister filmed the exchange.

That was when Annie finally filed a police report.

“I was afraid my children would become victims too if he wasn’t arrested.”

J and K were arrested on January 2, 2020. As police investigations progressed, Annie discovered the true extent of the betrayal.

J had orchestrated multiple rapes, drugging her with Dormicum pills bought illegally. He photographed her unconscious body and shared the images with his accomplices.

“I couldn’t imagine someone I loved doing this to me,” she said.

“The only ‘lucky’ thing was that I wasn’t awake for the assaults.”

Looking back, she recalled waking up groggy and disoriented, her underwear missing, and wondering why she was taking so many pills.

“He said it was medicine I asked for,” she said.

She also recognised some of her assailants — one had flirted with her online; another had joined her and J for drinks, making her feel uneasy.

Annie’s case helped expose the harrowing crimes committed by her husband and six other men, all of whom have since been convicted.

Now in her 40s, she’s focused on rebuilding her life and raising her children. She speaks out not for sympathy, but to ensure others know such abuse can happen — even within a marriage.

“I want women to know this kind of thing really happens,” she said.

“And they’re not alone.”

*If you are experiencing sexual violence, the following hotlines offer free and confidential support: Talian Kasih at 15999 or WhatsApp 019-2615999 (24/7); All Women’s Action Society at 016-2374221 / 016-2284221 (9.30am-5.30pm); and Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) at 03-30008858 or SMS/WhatsApp TINA 018-9888058 (24/7).