Singapore, (Samajweekly) A 61-year-old Indian-origin man was sentenced to 10 months in jail in Singapore for molesting a domestic worker in a lift and punching a man with a metal chain wrapped around his fist.
Singaram Palianeapan pleaded guilty to a charge of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a person, and a charge of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.
Four other similar charges were considered during sentencing, digital news outlet Today reported on Friday.
According to court documents, the domestic worker was buying food at a coffee shop when she was approached by Singaram, who offered her S$2 to buy herself a drink.
She accepted the money upon being insisted by Singaram, who followed her as she proceeded to head back to her employer’s residence.
The two reached the lift lobby of the housing block where the worker was living and she entered the lift even though Singaram did not live there. The pair were alone in the lift.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jordy Kay said that once the doors closed and the lift started to move, Singaram tried to touch the victim’s chest area and began to molest her.
Frightened, the victim kept trying to push him away and after managing to escape, she told her employer what had happened, following which they filed a police report.
Singaram was arrested on September 28 and released on bail the next day, the online news outlet reported.
All of Singaram’s actions were captured on the lift’s closed-circuit television camera, which also showed that he was in the lift with the victim for about a minute and 28 seconds.
Singaram and all of his actions were captured on the lift’s closed-circuit television camera.
In Singapore, anyone using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a person could be jailed for up to three years, fined or caned, or receive any combination of these punishments.
A month after this incident, Singaram went to Hu Jianpeng’s bicycle shop, located along Woodlands Close, to confront him about the problems he was facing with the personal mobility device (PMD) that he bought from him.
A dispute broke out between the two as they shouted at one another, and Hu’s friend, Yeoh Su Kai who was present there, tried to calm them down.
Singaram retrieved a metal chain from his PMD, wrapped it around his right fist, and punched Yeoh in the face three times who was then rushed to hospital.
Yeoh was found to have sustained a two cm-long superficial wound over his left upper eyelid as well as tenderness over his neck and right buttock area.
Anyone who voluntarily causes hurt with a dangerous weapon could be jailed for up to seven years or fined or caned, or be given any combination of these punishments.
