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Man jailed for molesting employee 5 times on first day of work

SINGAPORE — Despite her misgivings about how he had looked at her, a 28-year-old housewife agreed to work for Md Gias Uddin Sarker after her mother vouched that he was a “very good man” and “trustworthy”.

SINGAPORE — Despite her misgivings about how he had looked at her, a 28-year-old housewife agreed to work for Md Gias Uddin Sarker after her mother vouched that he was a “very good man” and “trustworthy”.

But, on her first day of work, the 47-year-old father-of-two molested her five times within a span of three-and-a-half hours.

For his actions, Gias was sentenced to eight months’ jail on Monday (June 18).

The Singapore permanent resident is appealing against his conviction and sentence, and is currently out on S$10,000 bail.

Earlier this year, the owner of a company dealing with electrical construction and the import and export of medical equipment had been found guilty of five outrage of modesty charges following a seven-day trial.

Due to a court gag order to protect the victim’s identity, she cannot be named, nor was it made clear how she knew Gias.

During the trial, the court heard that the victim had taken up an administrative post in Gias’ company after her sister told her about the vacancy, and her mother had vouched for his character.

Even though she was not actively looking for a job, she decided to take it up to pass time.

However, on her first day of work on Nov 20, 2015, Gias molested her five times in the evening.

The offences took place in Gias’ office in Woodlands, the lift in the office building, and on her taxi ride home.

On various pretexts, Gias had touched her on various parts of her body, before molesting her. He also hugged and kissed her.

Whenever she protested that she was uncomfortable with his actions, he told her: “We are family, so it’s okay.” And after each offence, he would warn her not to tell anyone what happened.

He also told her about his personal life and that he was not looking for “hot sex” like other men, and had wanted to give her additional money, cosmetics and clothes, on top of her salary.

After she got home the same evening, the victim called her sister to report that Gias had touched her. She was advised to call her husband, who was ending his night shift as a Cisco auxiliary police officer, to return home.

Her husband told the court that when he got home, his wife was crying and in a state he had never seen before. Angered by what she told him, he called Gias about her accusations, which Gias repeatedly denied.

Still unhappy, the victim’s husband demanded to meet Gias after midnight near Yishun MRT Station. There, Gias held his hand and asked for forgiveness.

When he told Gias they were going to lodge a police report, Gias told him not to do so, and bought him drinks and a pack of cigarettes.

The victim filed a police report later that afternoon. Gias was arrested two days later on Nov 23, then released on police bail.

Gias subsequently tried to get the victim’s mother, who had just returned after a holiday in Indonesia, to drop the case. The victim’s mother also testified that she kept receiving calls from an unfamiliar number, which turned out to be Gias’.

As a result of the incident, the victim said she was scared to visit her mother as she did not want to bump into Gias. She also had problems being intimate with her husband, broke down when she thought about the molestation, and felt her relationship with her mother was affected as she partly blamed her for it.

She also had to change her mobile phone number as Gias had called her persistently, and told the court that he would stare at her as recently as during Hari Raya Puasa last year.

Asking for at least nine months’ imprisonment, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said Gias had used “ways and means to manipulate the victim”. However, she did not seek caning as there was no direct skin-to-skin contact or excessive use of force.

“The victim was placed under significant pressure and fear that the accused would do something worse as the night progressed. These persistent acts worked to only entrench the fear she experienced after the first incident,” DPP Sruthi added.

For outrage of modesty, Gias could have been jailed up to two years, fined, or caned, or any combination of the three.

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