IN THE Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, a girl found herself in peril after meeting the Big Bad Wolf in the forest.

In the case of a little girl in Singapore, danger lurked closer to home in the shape of her father.

He raped his biological daughter when they were alone athomeone day.

She was only seven years old.

Fearing her father, who warned her not to tell anyone about what he had done, she lived with her pain and shame in secret for about five years.

Then, early last year,whenshe was in Primary 6, she was finally emboldened to tell her class teacher about what had happened to her.

It was just after the teacher had told her class the story of Little Red Riding Hood to illustrate the dangers of talking to strangers.

Later, the teacher asked the class if they had had previous encounters with strangers.

When it was the girl's turn to speak, the teacher noticed that she looked upset.

The girl, now 12, later told her teacher in private that her father had done a "sex thing" to her.

Yesterday, the 42-year-old former personal driver, pleaded guilty to raping his daughter some time in 2005 in the family flat.

Another count of outraging the girl's modesty in January last year will be taken into consideration when heis sentenced today.

The court heard that the girl was sleeping in her bedroom early one morning in 2005 when her father entered the room and removed her clothes.

The girl's mother and two older brothers were not home at the time.

The girl woke up midway and asked her father what he was doing, but he told her to keep quiet.

He then instructed her to close her eyes, place her hands behind her back and not to move, before he raped her.

Fear

Though the young girl felt pain, she did not shout.

She complied with her father's instructions as she was afraid of him.

After raping her, her father told her to take a shower.

There, in the privacy of the bathroom, the girl cried.

After her shower, her father took her to school and instructed her not to tell anyone what had happened.

On Feb 5 last year, her teacher's telling of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale finally brought her father's heinous crime to light.

The fairy tale tells of a little girl who was sent to visit her ailing grandmother.

Her mother warned her not to veer off the path, but a cunning wolf met her along the way and enticed her into picking flowers off the path.

While she was busy picking flowers, the wolf went to her grandmother's home and ate her grandmother. It also ate Little Red Riding Hood when she reached her grandmother'shome.

A hunter later rescued them by cutting open the wolf's stomach.

After the girl's revelation, the teacher took her to see the school counsellor.

It was then that the girl told of how her father had raped her when she was in Primary 1.

She also told the counsellor that she had "kept the matter to herself all this time as shewas afraid".

The matter was referred to the school principal and later to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).

Four days after the matter came to light, the girl, accompanied by her teacher, the school counsellor and a senior child protection officer from MCYS, made a police report.

Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Leong Wing Tuck told the court that the girl was examined by Dr Bernardine Woo, a consultant psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health's Child Guidance Clinic.

In the report, she stated that the girl felt "sad and fearful after the incident five years ago and has been feeling angry since she realised the nature of the alleged abuse.

"She also feels dirty and has difficulty trusting others," Dr Woo said.

DPP Leong pointed out that Dr Woo had "opined that this may lead to inter-personal difficulties as well as problems with intimacy later in life".

The DPP added that the accused had three previous drug-related convictions.

He was last sentenced to three years and six months' jail in October 2002 for consuming a controlled drug.

Yesterday, the girl's father, who did not have a lawyer, wrote his own mitigation.

In the letter which was read out in court by an interpreter, he said that he was willing to accept whatever his sentence would be.

He wrote: "I am urging Your Honour to give me a final and last chance to become a responsible human being for myself andmyfamily."

He apologised for what he did and added that on the day of the rape,he was "under the influence of alcohol".

He did it only once, he said.

He added: "I love my daughter and I am very sorry." If convicted of rape, the man can be jailed for 20 years and given at least 12 strokes of the cane.

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