An Indian origin man in Singapore was jailed for molesting a domestic helper in a lift of a housing block and punching a man. According to a report by the news agency PTI on Saturday (Jan 27), 61-year-old Singaram Palianeapan followed the domestic help (a woman) into a lift where he molested her, keeping her trapped for nearly 90 seconds. This incident occurred in Sept 2022.
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. He was sentenced to a total of 10 months in jail after pleading guilty to both crimes, PTI reported.
The first crime
Citing court documents, PTI reported that on Sept 28, 2022, the domestic help was buying food when Singaram offered her money to buy herself a drink. The woman initially refused the offer but later accepted the money when he insisted.
The documents said that after getting food, the woman 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.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordy Kay, once the lift started to move, the 61-year-old molested the helper. The lift arrived at level 17 upon which the man stood by the lift doors asking the victim to follow him.
When the woman refused, Singaram went back into the lift and selected level 7, and as the lift moved, he continued to molest her. 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 added.
Singaram was arrested on Sept 28 and released on bail the next day.
The second crime
A month later, Singaram was at a bicycle shop where he 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 men and Singaram took out a metal chain from his personal mobility device, wrapped it around his right fist and punched the shop owner thrice, PTI reported.
Kay sought a jail term of between nine and 11 months for the 61-year-old.
(With inputs from agencies)
