Singapore court reserves ruling on Lev Panfilov rape appeal
What's new: Judges flagged discrepancies over whether the complainant screamed, a point the defense says undermines the conviction.
Singapore's Court of Appeal reserved judgment after hearing former Wah!Banana actor and TikToker Lev Panfilov challenge his 2025 rape conviction and sentence. Panfilov, a Russian national and Singapore permanent resident, is serving 11 1/2 years in jail and faces 12 strokes of the cane after his conviction on two rape counts, one count of sexual assault by penetration and one count of outrage of modesty. The case centers on a Jan. 12, 2021 encounter with a woman he met on Tinder at his flat. Panfilov says the sex was consensual. Defense lawyer Johannes Hadi argued the complainant's account contained material inconsistencies, including whether she screamed during the assault, while prosecutors maintained any mismatch could have been a misunderstanding.