The number of assaults on prison inmates has been increasing over the past five years.

Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee said the number of major assaults per 10,000 inmates had gone up from 14 to 35 cases last year.

Still, he said there is a proper system of checks in place to prevent abuse.

Singapore's prisons have some 12,600 inmates, some with violent criminal backgrounds, living in close proximity.

Referring to the recent High Court case where three prisoners received stiff jail terms for sustained physical and sexual assault on a cellmate, Assoc Prof Ho said the incident was an isolated one.

He said: "The incident would not have remained undetected over eight days nor would it have escalated to the extent that it did if only the inmate had sought help earlier. One reason, which the inmate himself offered, (was that) he had a dark complexion, so some of the injuries remained undetected until he told it to the officers."

He added that the director of prisons had not found any officer remiss, after investigation.

MP Lam Pin Min, said: "It's unimaginable that over eight days, the prison officers could not detect anything unusual about the abuse that this victim was subjected to. Surely there must be a way that prison officers can be trained to pick up such cases, if possible. I don't think we should place all or most of the responsibility on the inmates themselves."

Full Story - Channel NewsAsia.com (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/449824/1/.html)