Man found guilty of molesting nurse hired to care for his wife

SINGAPORE — While in Singapore to seek medical treatment for his cancer-stricken wife, he sexually assaulted the private nurse hired to care for her, after lamenting that he had not had sex with his spouse in recent months because of her illness.

Pillai Shyam Kumar Sadashivan, a managing director of a firm based in Dubai, was on Monday (Aug 28) convicted of one count of using criminal force to molest the victim and another count of insulting her modesty.

The court was told that Sadashivan, a 47-year-old Indian national, had come to Singapore on a long-term visit pass with his wife to seek medical help for her condition.

The couple, who had rented an apartment at 5 Normanton Park, had hired the victim via nursing services provider MedXcess Healthcare to care for Sadashivan’s wife from Dec 11 to 16 last year.

The victim, a 25-year-old Singaporean who cannot be named to protect her identity, monitored his wife’s vital signs, and helped her move about, clean up, use the toilet, and take her meals. She was paid S$120 for six hours of care each day, and was the only nurse employed at the apartment, the court was told.

At about 9am on Dec 14, the fourth day of the contract, the victim – who was an independent contractor with MedXcess – arrived at the apartment, but Sadashivan’s wife was asleep in her bedroom, with the door closed.

Sadashivan then invited her to the sofa in the living room, where they chatted. Soon, he steered the conversation towards sexual matters.

Lamenting to the nurse that he had not had sex with his wife in recent months because of her illness, Sadashivan claimed that “girls in Dubai provide extra services” and asked if it were the case here. The victim replied that she was a professional nurse and that she “did not do such things”.

When she declined his request for her to pull up her shirt, Sadashivan got agitated and used his right hand to grab her front collar and groped her with his other hand under her shirt, while she struggled to break free. He also stroked her thighs as he found them “sexy and smooth”, the court heard.

The victim felt “outraged and shocked by the contact” but did not have time to react as the acts happened very quickly. He let go of her shortly after and instructed her to attend to his wife, but continued to make “lewd remarks (about her)”, the court was told.

The following day, the victim still returned to care for Sadashivan’s wife “as the company was concerned over the fulfilment of the contract”.

It was only on the night of Dec 16 that she made a police report, and Sadashivan was subsequently arrested.

Traumatised by the assault, the victim sought counselling and could not return to her nursing job for a while, the court heard.

A counselling report dated Feb 21 stated that she experienced symptoms of depression, including unexplained crying, insomnia, poor appetite, and feelings of worthlessness.

She had flashbacks of the incident and feared being attacked again should she return to nursing. She was caught in a bind because she felt stressed and anxious about loss of income, wrote Ms Flora Chin from Eagles Mediation & Counselling Centre.

Sadashivan is expected to be sentenced on Oct 5. He is out on bail of S$15,000. He faces up to two years’ jail with fine and caning for molestation. For insulting the victim’s modesty, he could be jailed for a year and/or fined.

CLARIFICATION FOOTNOTE: An earlier version of the story stated that the victim had an employment contract with MedXcess. The company has clarified that the victim was an independent contractor.