SINGAPORE - A self-employed man threatened his former girlfriend with a foldable knife when she refused to have sex with him.

He also forcibly removed her dress and recorded a video of her without her consent while she was clad only in her undergarments.

The 31-year-old man, who runs a freelance manpower agency, was sentenced to four months and three weeks' jail on Wednesday (March 27).

He pleaded guilty on March 7 to one count each of assault, criminal intimidation, insulting a woman's modesty and harassment. He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the 25-year-old woman's identity.

The court heard that the pair dated for more than four years before splitting up on April 18 last year.

The man went to the woman's home six days later and entered using a spare key which she had given him. He slapped her when she returned at around 2am and dragged her out of her home.

They took a lift down to the void deck where the man pushed his former girlfriend, causing her to fall and injure both her knees. When they reached her car, the man told her that they could either see a doctor or return home to have sex.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daryl Wong said: "The victim refused to have sex with him and did not want to enter the car, so the accused took out a foldable knife from his motorcycle. The victim saw the knife and went to sit in the car."

The pair returned to her home at around 2.40am after buying some medication, and the man asked her to undress.

When she refused, he placed the weapon near her chest, causing her to fear for her life. The man then undressed her before recording a video of her. He left her home later that morning.

On April 26, the man sent his former girlfriend text messages, asking her to call him. He also said that he would send the video to her father if she did not comply.

The offender went to the woman's flat again the next day and a verbal dispute broke out between them when she refused to let him in. One of her neighbours alerted the police.

For assaulting his former girlfriend, the man could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000. For insulting a woman's modesty, he could have been jailed for up to a year and fined.