Construction worker jailed 6 months for molesting cleaner at MRT station
A Bangladeshi construction worker tried to chat up a female cleaner in the male toilet of an MRT station. When she ignored his advances, he molested her.
Kundu Pronoy Kumar, 39, was jailed six months by the State Courts on Thursday (8 March) after he pleaded guilty to one charge of using criminal force to outrage the woman’s modesty. The 35-year-old victim cannot be named due to a court-imposed gag order.
The court heard that on 28 January this year, Kumar went to use the toilet at Marymount MRT station. At the time, the woman had placed her cleaning equipment outside the toilet and was waiting for everyone to vacate it.
Kumar saw the woman and smiled at her. The woman ignored him and waited for him to exit the toilet.
Kumar attempted to talk to the woman in English and gave her his mobile number on a piece of paper. The woman did not understand what he was saying and proceeded to clean the toilet.
He then stood outside the toilet and gestured at her. The woman thought he wanted to come in and wash his face, but she shook her head to say that he could not come in. Despite seeing her actions, Kumar entered the toilet again.
He placed his hand on the woman’s shoulder and kissed her on the left cheek. He then hugged her from behind and grabbed her breast. Shocked, the woman asked him why he did that. Kumar then left the toilet.
Kumar admitted that he felt the urge to touch the woman after he noticed there was no one else in the toilet.
The woman informed a member of the station staff and a police report was made on the same day.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chew Xin Ying sought a jail term of at least six months, saying the molest was premeditated and that Kumar had entered the toilet despite the victim’s objections.
District Judge Terence Tay said the offence took place in a confined space and that Kumar intruded upon the victim’s private parts.
Sentencing Kumar to six months’ jail, he added that if the outrage of modesty had been prolonged, the case might have warranted caning.
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