SINGAPORE: Eight men will be charged on Tuesday (Feb 27) for eight separate cases of outrage of modesty, the police said on Monday, just weeks after announcing that the number of molestation cases had surged 22.2 per cent in 2017 compared to the year before.
The men, aged between 23 to 67, committed the offences between November 2016 and December 2017, the police said in a news release.
The brief details of the cases are as follows:
- On Mar 11, 2017, the police received a report that a 19-year-old woman was molested at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. A 29-year-old male suspect was arrested on the same day. He will face an additional charge of using criminal force against the woman for pulling her hair to stop her from leaving.
- On Aug 17, 2017, the police received a report that a 32-year-old woman was molested in a restaurant along Unity Street. A 42-year-old male suspect was arrested on the same day. He will face additional charges of using criminal force, voluntarily causing hurt and using abusive words against a public servant.
- On Sep 24, 2017, the police received a report that a 39-year-old woman was molested in a hotel along Orchard Road. A 67-year-old male suspect was subsequently arrested. He will face an additional charge of outrage of modesty involving a 41-year-old woman for a separate incident reported on Oct 2, 2017.
- On Nov 8 and Nov 11, 2017, the police received reports that a 55-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman were molested by a cyclist along Toa Payoh Lorong 1 and Toa Payoh Lorong 8 respectively. On Nov 15, 2017, a 23-year-old male suspect involved in both incidents was arrested.
- On Nov 27, 2017, the police received a report that a 33-year-old woman was molested at a public entertainment outlet along Emerald Hill. The 33- year-old male suspect was arrested on the same day.
- On Dec 1, 2017, the police received a report that a 23-year-old woman was molested while exiting the lift at a HDB block along Sin Ming Avenue. The 28-year-old male suspect was identified and he was subsequently arrested.
- On Dec 10, 2017, the police received a report that a 19-year-old woman was molested in a private-hire vehicle at the basement carpark of a hotel located in Orchard Road. The 36-year-old male suspect was identified and he was arrested the same day. He faces a total of three counts of outrage of modesty.
- On Nov 14, 2016, the police received a report that a 15-year-old girl was molested on a train heading from Bishan MRT Station towards Marymount MRT Station. The victim recounted two incidents on Nov 8 and Nov 9 the same year where she was molested by the same suspect. The 34-year old male suspect was subsequently identified and he was arrested on Nov 18, 2016.
In particular, the number of molestation cases on public transport spiked by 60.5 per cent, from 129 cases to 207 cases. Molestation cases at entertainment night spots also rose by 33.8 per cent, from 80 cases to 107 cases last year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementTo prevent outrage of modesty cases from happening in public entertainment outlets, the police have worked with operators on additional security measures such as the installation of closed-circuit televisions, they said in the press release on Monday.
In addition, the operators are required to prevent overcrowding and ensure sufficient lighting within their premises, they added.
Patrols are also conducted in public transport areas by officers from the Public Transport Security Command to project a police presence and deter outrage of modesty cases, the authorities said.
"They police also actively disseminate crime prevention advice to commuters and these are done through posters, videos and crime prevention roadshows in areas such as trains, train stations and bus interchanges," they added.
Anyone convicted of outrage of modesty may be jailed a maximum of two years, fined and caned.
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