SINGAPORE - A 34-year-old technician went on trial on Monday (Sept 4), accused of raping his biological daughter eight times when she was 14 years old.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, faces two charges of raping the girl, the eldest of his three children, at the family's flat in Punggol on Nov 19, 2014 and on Jan 9, 2015.

The girl is now 17 years old and staying at a shelter for teenage girls.

Officials from her school reported the matter to the police and the Ministry of Social and Family Development after she told her school counsellor what her father had done.

Opening the prosecution's case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Winston Man told the court that the girl will testify that her father raped her eight times between November 2014 and January 2015.

Two of these incidents, which she can most vividly recall, form the subject matter of the two charges.

The DPP said the girl will testify that on Jan 19, 2014, her father forced his way into the locked common toilet while she was changing and raped her. Her mother was then at work and her father allegedly warned her not tell anyone what he had done to her.

She will also testify that on the night of Jan 9, 2015, her father grabbed her from behind, took her to her own bedroom, and raped her on her own bed, said the DPP. Her mother was then at a mahjong session. Her younger siblings were at home during the two incidents.

The man's semen was found on a pair of shorts she was wearing at the time of the second incident, said the DPP.

On April 2, 2015, the man admitted to police that he had sex with his daughter on one occasion. He now alleges that the statement was not made voluntarily.

The later incident happened on the very night that she revealed to her boyfriend of one month that her father had raped her.

The boy, who took the stand to testify on Monday, said he had wooed the girl for a few months before she agreed to be his girlfriend in December 2014.

But he did not see her that month and only chatted with her via a mobile game as her parents were strict; they did not let her go out during the school holidays and did not allow her to use text messaging apps.

At one of their meetings when school started the next year, she asked him if he would still like her if she was not a virgin, and he replied that he likes her for who she is, the boy told the court.

On the morning of Jan 9, 2015, before school assembly, she broke down as she told the boy her father had raped her. "She kept crying and I lent her my shoulder," he said.

Although the girl was reluctant to report the matter as she was worried that it will break up the family, he urged her to report the matter and even booked an appointment for her to meet the school counsellor.

It was after the girl met the counsellor that he found out there were eight occasions of rape, he said. "I found it very terrifying that her own father can rape her so many times," he said.

The boy added that the girl's grandfather blamed her for making the report because it got her father into trouble.

He said he broke up with her because she treated him very coldly and ignored him. His parents also did not think she was good for him, he said.

When asked if she could be lying, the boy said he believed what she said. "This is a very serious case. I don't think she will joke about this kind of thing. She was crying, so I don't think she was lying."

The counsellor testified the girl told her that the rapes usually took place on Fridays, when her mother was out for mahjong sessions.

The girl's family members reacted to her revelation with disbelief and scorn, the court heard. The counsellor said the girl's paternal grandmother compared her to characters in TV dramas who seduce men, while her mother, in a text message, asked why she framed her father just to get "freedom".

If convicted of rape, the man faces up to 20 years' jail, and caning or a fine.