Case reported in “The Straits Times” 10/6/2016
An Indian national,37, who is a Singapore PR, pleaded guilty to standing behind and rubbing himself repeatedly against a 21-year-old woman on the train travelling from City Hall to Bugis MRT station last year.
A court heard that the victim boarded the train at City Hall at about 6pm that day and was going to meet her boyfriend at Bugis.
As the train was crowded, she stood close to the middle of the cabin, which is where he then positioned himself behind her.
Deputy Public Prosecutor stated that initially, the woman did not realise that the contact between them had been deliberate.
When she moved towards the train doors to distance herself, the accused then followed and kept rubbing himself against her buttocks.
When the train arrived at the Bugis MRT station, she told her boyfriend about the incident and they reported it to the SMRT staff.
Our criminal lawyers stated that our client’s wife and his young daughter had been receiving financial help from the Ministry of Social and Family Development for quite some time.
Our client was deeply remorseful and felt that he had let his family, friends and most importantly, himself, down.
A second similar charge was taken into consideration in sentencing.
Sentence:
The unemployed man was jailed for nine weeks on the molestation charge. He could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or received any combined punishment.
