Indian-origin man jailed for molesting domestic worker, injuring man in Singapore

PTI, Jan 27, 2024, 1:16 PM IST

Singapore: An Indian-origin man was sentenced to 10 months in jail after he pleaded guilty of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a woman and voluntarily causing hurt to another person with a dangerous weapon.

Singaram Palianeapan, 61, followed a domestic worker into a lift where he molested the woman, keeping her trapped for nearly 90 seconds, according to a news report.

Around a month later, while he was out on bail, Singaram punched a man at a bicycle shop three times with a metal chain wrapped around his fist. Four other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing by the court.

Court documents showed that on September 28, 2022, the domestic worker was buying food when Singaram offered her money to buy herself a drink. She initially refused the offer but later accepted the money when he insisted.

After getting her food, she proceeded to head back to her employer’s residence as Singaram followed her. The two reached the lift of the housing block and Singaram pressed the button for level 17 but when the woman tried to press the button for level five, he stopped her.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordy Kay said that once the lift started to move, Singaram began to molest the worker. The lift arrived at level 17 and Singaram stood by the lift doors asking the victim to follow him.

When she refused, he went back into the lift and selected the seventh floor. As the lift moved, he continued to molest the domestic help. Singaram was in the lift with the victim for about a minute and 28 seconds, and all of his actions were captured on the lift’s CCTV camera, Kay said.

Singaram was arrested on September 28 and released on bail the next day.

About a month later, on October 28, Yeoh Su Kai was at his friend Hu Jianpeng’s bicycle shop when Singaram confronted the shop owner about the problems he was facing with the personal mobility device that he bought.

A dispute broke out between the two following which Singaram took out a metal chain from his personal mobility device, wrapped it around his right fist and punched Yeoh thrice.

Seeking a jail term of between nine and 11 months for Singaram, Kay argued that even though the degree of sexual exploitation was low, there was still an attempt to touch the domestic worker’s chest area.

DPP Kay also addressed the assault on Mr Yeoh, highlighting that the metal chain used was serious given that the injuries were to the victim’s head.