SINGAPORE — A 25-year-old man was yesterday placed on 12 months’ probation for rubbing the thigh of a female passenger on a bus.

Ted Ho Shu Rong admitted to molesting the 28-year-old woman in August last year on SBS Transit service 93, which was travelling from Braddell Road to Eunos Link.

The victim had felt Ho rubbing her thigh and had immediately moved her legs. He repeated the act a few minutes later. This shocked the victim, who did not dare to move away.

After she got off the bus, she went to make a police report.

The police managed to trace Ho through closed-circuit television footage and EZ-Link records from the bus.

In its written mitigation, the defence said Ho was “feeling tired and drowsy” when he was on the bus.

Ho’s lawyers also said he was woken up by the passenger shouting at him and accusing him of rubbing her thigh.

They added that their client had not realised what he had done until the passenger scolded him.

Ho has since apologised to the woman.

The court also heard that Ho has a low intelligence quotient because he had Kawasaki fever when he was a child. CLAIRE HUANG