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Man, 62, gets over 6 months' jail for molesting 19-year-old special needs woman and other offences

SINGAPORE — Working as a part-timer at a minimart, he struck up a conversation with a 19-year-old woman with a mild intellectual disability, before offering to buy her perfume and some cat food. Soon after, he kissed her over her mask even though they did not know each other.

Man, 62, gets over 6 months' jail for molesting 19-year-old special needs woman and other offences
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  • Sanjay Amreetpal Singh Mohd was working part-time at a minimart when he struck up a conversation with a special needs student
  • He then offered to buy her perfume and cat food
  • While they were in line at the cashier, he kissed her over her mask even though they had just met
  • In a separate incident, Sanjay punched a cleaner
  • In yet another incident, he shouted vulgarities at a police officer and spat blood on a paramedic while drunk

SINGAPORE — Working as a part-timer at a minimart, he struck up a conversation with a 19-year-old woman with a mild intellectual disability, before offering to buy her perfume and some cat food. Soon after, he kissed her over her mask even though they did not know each other.

The victim, who cannot be identified on a court order, is a student at a special needs school. She is unable to differentiate between sexually appropriate and inappropriate behaviour, the court heard.

On Friday (Nov 4), 62-year-old Sanjay Amreetpal Singh Mohd, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to outrage of modesty.

He also pleaded guilty to three other unrelated charges for assaulting a public servant, voluntarily causing hurt and using insulting words towards a public servant. These charges relate to two incidents after the molestation.

Another five charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

On Friday, the Singaporean was sentenced to a total of four months and nine weeks' imprisonment, backdated to Aug 29, the date of his arrest.

WHAT HAPPENED

On Nov 14, 2020 at about 11.17am, the victim had gone to the minimart where Sanjay chatted with her. They did not know each other, court documents showed.

CCTV footage recorded Sanjay kissing the victim over her mask while waiting to make payment for the items he had offered to buy.

Almost two weeks later on Nov 26, the victim’s father called the police to report that his daughter had been molested. Court documents did not reveal how he found out about it.

In a separate incident on Oct 5, 2021, Sanjay punched a cleaner working for a town council. The assault happened at a utility room of Block 667A Jurong West Street 65.

At around 1.09pm, the cleaner, 26-year-old Moral Shahin, was having his lunch in the utility room of the multi-story car park when Sanjay knocked on the roller shutter, asking him to open the shutter.

Mr Shahin contacted his supervisor and told Sanjay to wait, but Sanjay managed to open the shutter before punching Mr Shahin once on his lips. Mr Shahin’s supervisor then arrived and intervened before the police reached the scene.

SPAT AT SCDF PARAMEDIC

In yet another incident involving Sanjay, on Feb 12 this year, the police responded to a call about a drunk man who had been bleeding in Boon Lay. 

Sanjay had been drinking with two others when he became rowdy and threatened to chop them. After threatening to stab one of them, the person left their drinking spot, before returning with a knife and slashing Sanjay's face.

The duo then left, leaving Sanjay alone.

Police officer Suhaili Hassan, 27, reached the area at about 5.35pm in response to the police call. Sanjay had been shouting at passers-by in the area and did not stop despite her warnings.

With the help of other passers-by, Ms Suhaili managed to detain Sanjay. He then proceeded to shout various vulgarities in Malay at her.

While paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force were taking him to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Sanjay spat blood on a paramedic attending to his wounds.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Da Zhuan told the court that Sanjay had a long string of convictions dating back to 1977, including theft, mutilating currency notes, and using vulgarities against civil servants.

Sanjay kept his head lowered as DPP Lee read out his list of convictions.

In April 2020, he was sentenced to four months’ jail for cursing at a doctor while in hospital and making a threat while in police lock-up.

Sanjay, who was not represented by a lawyer, asked for forgiveness and said that he would not offend again.

“I was intoxicated and unable to recall what I did. Please give me a lighter sentence,” he said.

Anyone convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or get any combination of these punishments.

The penalty for using abusive language against a civil servant is a jail term of up to 12 months or a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.

For assaulting a civil servant, Sanjay could have been jailed for up to four years or fined, or both.

For intentionally causing hurt to another person, he could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

Related topics

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