Ex-RWS cleaner who groped colleague jailed 3.5 years with 3 strokes of the cane
A cleaner at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) pinned his colleague to the floor of a staircase landing, ripped the front of her shirt and groped her, all in view of another staff member, a court heard.
Sangarganes Chandrasekaran, now 31, even bit the victim’s face. He had to be pulled away from the 49-year-old victim by other RWS colleagues.
At the State Courts on Monday (3 December), Sangarganes, a Malaysian, was jailed for three-and-a-half years with three strokes of the cane.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of molestation and another count of aggravated molestation, by causing wrongful restraint to commit outrage of modesty. One charge of causing hurt was considered in sentencing.
On 27 May, at about 5.20pm, the victim, a Chinese national, and her female colleague were walking down a basement staircase landing beside Bagus cafe at Universal Studios Singapore (USS), within RWS.
Sangarganes, who was walking up the same flight of stairs, did not know the victim. As he approached her, he held onto her shoulders, then kissed her lips and leaned in towards her.
She lost her balance and both Sangarganes and the victim fell, with her head hitting the ground.
While they were on the ground, Sangarganes pinned one of her legs with his knee. He also pinned her body by leaning on it.
Sangarganes used one hand to rip the front of her shirt and molested the victim. He then held the victim’s face and bit her left cheek near her mouth.
Her colleague tried to pull Sangarganes away from the victim but to no avail. The colleague then sought help from other USS staff, who pulled Sangarganes away and detained him.
The victim then called the police. She later told a doctor that she was traumatised after the incident and that her sleep was affected.
The maximum penalty for outrage of modesty is up to two years’ jail along with a fine and caning. The punishment for causing wrongful restraint while molesting a person is between two and 10 years’ jail, with caning.
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