73-year-old man on trial for molesting 28-year-old woman with special needs

• A woman who was allegedly molested by an older man got to know him through his wife
• The woman, who has autism and borderline intelligence, said she called the man “godpa”
• She said she told the man’s wife about what he did to her and she replied that “he’s like that”
• The man said in an earlier police statement that he and the woman liked each other

SINGAPORE — A 73-year-old Singaporean man is on trial for allegedly molesting a 28-year-old woman who is autistic, visually handicapped and has borderline intelligence.

As the hearing began on Wednesday (Feb 10), the woman testified while accompanied by a support officer that when she told the man’s wife what he did to her, the other woman was not alarmed and told her that was just the way her husband was.

The man is contesting all three charges of touching her chest, her crotch and pulling her hand towards him to rub his groin.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of the woman. The man, who was also present in the courtroom, was shielded from the woman’s view by a screen.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Thiagesh Sukumaran said as he opened the prosecution’s case that the accused “took advantage of the alleged victim’s unbridled trust reposed in him”.

The pair had met after the woman became friends with the man’s wife. She used to go to a jewellery shop in the Plaza Singapura mall where the wife worked. 

The woman told the court that she started calling the wife “godma” a week after meeting her in 2016. The wife was friendly to her, she added.

When the shop closed down about a year later, the woman started visiting the wife at home to browse the cosmetics and bags that the other woman was selling online.

It was during her visits there that she first met the accused, whom she addressed as “uncle” and, on one or two occasions, “godpa”.

On Jan 24, 2018, she went to their home asking to stay the night after she quarrelled with her mother.

They allowed her to sleep with them on the bed. It was there that he allegedly committed the acts.

‘HE’S LIKE THAT’, WIFE SAID

The court heard that she was talking to the man in the bedroom when he allegedly started rubbing her thigh several times and touched her crotch. The woman pushed his hand away each time.

She then laid down on the bed and pretended to fall asleep but he allegedly persisted and groped her chest twice.

The woman demonstrated the acts to the courtroom with a doll, at one point seemingly tearing as she recounted the incident. 

She confronted the man’s wife in the kitchen later that night and told her what had happened.

“I told her, ‘Your husband touched me’. Her answer was, ‘He’s like that’.” 

The man then purportedly came out of the bedroom to ask the alleged victim to return to bed.

When she went back to sleep, the man then allegedly pulled her hand towards his groin.

Asked by DPP Thiagesh what she understood the act to be, her answer was concise: “Forced.”

She further testified that she did not leave the house until the next morning because she was scared of the man and was afraid of getting into another quarrel with her mother had she returned home in the night.

Her mother later made a police report after the woman told her about the incident. 

‘SHE IS JUST LIKE A BABY’, ACCUSED SAID

The investigation officer of the case was called to the stand on Wednesday and testified that the man had earlier admitted to touching the woman.

In a police statement made in the early hours on Jan 26, 2018 that the officer narrated in court, the man said that the woman had called him “papa” and played with his mobile phone.

“I asked her why she was so white. I told her she is beautiful. She just smiled,” he said in the statement.

He added that he and his wife had previously agreed that the woman might have an intellectual disability.

“Based on my conversation with her, she is just like a baby.”

The man denied touching her chest and said that although he held her hand as they slept on the bed, he did not know if her hand might have touched his groin by accident.

However, in a later statement recorded on Nov 18 in 2019, he said that he and the woman had both said that they liked each other.

“She sat on the bed. It just happened. I touched her and she touched me,” he said in the statement. “It takes two hands to clap.” 

He added then that he was hoping he could settle the case out of court and extended his sincere apologies to the woman.

“I am so old, please give me a chance to lead my normal life,” he said in the statement. “I do not have (many) years to live. I never committed any act in 71 years, not even littering.”

The trial continues on Thursday morning with the defence lawyer cross-examining the alleged victim. 

If convicted, the man could be jailed for up to two years and fined for each count of molestation. He cannot be caned by law as he is above 50 years old.