Man who molested woman at HDB void deck gets 9 months’ jail and caning

He saw a woman who was going for a morning jog from the kitchen of his flat. Feeling aroused, Mohammad Arif Lui Azman, 23, left the flat and hid behind the pillars at a void deck before he molested the victim, 25, by grabbing her right breast.

Arif, who was then a national service policeman, was sentenced to nine months’ jail and three strokes of the cane in the State Courts on Tuesday (31 October).

The court heard that the incident happened on 3 March this year at the void deck of Blk 587 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3. The victim, who cannot be named due to a gag order, was heading towards a garden for her routine jog and was listening to music at the time.

Arif spotted her in her jogging outfit from his house and had the urge to touch her breasts, according to court documents. Arif headed towards the void deck and saw the victim but did not approach her initially as he noticed there were police CCTV cameras in the vicinity.

When the victim was walking in an area not covered by the CCTV cameras, he approached the victim. He then used his left hand to cover the victim’s mouth and used his right hand to grab her right breast from behind her. The victim struggled and kept punching Arif before biting him on his middle left finger whereupon he shouted and fled from the scene.

Any person who is convicted of committing outrage of modesty faces a jail term of up to two years or a fine or caning or a combination of the punishments.