SINGAPORE – Annie (not her real name) cursorily skimmed through a letter her former husband sent from prison, barely registering his declarations of love and regret.

Once, his words would have reduced her to an emotional mess, reminding her of the life they had built, and the pain of his betrayal.

But now, her eyes are dry and her heart unmoved. If she replies at all, it is usually a few short lines about their four children.

“I don’t love him any more,” she said. “I have let go and moved on.”

This is the story of Annie, the first victim in a shocking case that led to the convictions of seven men, including her former husband.

Four of the men plotted an elaborate and sadistic scheme which involved drugging their own wives and allowing others to rape them.

Annie’s former husband – referred to as “J” in media reports – recruited the most accomplices. He drugged her and found five men to rape her, one of them on their wedding anniversary.

One of these men also invited a seventh man to rape his wife, but the attempt was unsuccessful. This seventh man was sentenced to three years’ jail in 2022.

A gag order has been imposed to protect the identities of the four victims. The names of the seven men are anonymised in public records, as is standard practice when sex offenders are close family members of the victims.

Annie first contacted The Straits Times in January 2024 through her brother-in-law and his wife, Annie’s sister. All of the men’s cases had concluded by then, except for O’s appeal against his conviction and sentence, which was dismissed in February 2025.

Annie wanted her story told and was composed as she recounted her life’s darkest chapter to ST – first in 2024 at a relative’s home, and again in May 2025, this time on camera at ST’s newsroom studio.

The 40-something spoke with a detached calm, as though telling someone else’s story, her lilting voice occasionally punctuated by nervous laughter.

When words failed her, she would glance at her sister or brother-in-law, who...