SINGAPORE — Having molested a woman and then evading the law for five years, a man was finally brought to justice when he left behind a DNA sample while trying to get a sexual favour from a student.

Muhammad Shahrin Mohd Shah, 32, was on Wednesday (Jan 24) sentenced to jail for two years and eight months, with three strokes of the cane. He pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated molest in 2011 and trespassing in 2016.

Another four counts of similar offences were taken into consideration during sentencing.

In the early hours of Oct 23 in 2011, Shahrin’s molest victim, then 32, wanted to rest in her boyfriend’s car after a night out at a pub in Clarke Quay.

She went to Liang Court shopping centre, where the car was parked, and noticed Shahrin sitting by a stairwell.

After she got into the front passenger seat of the car, Shahrin dashed over and opened her side of the door, and pinned her down using his elbow. A struggle ensued, but the woman managed to move over to the driver’s seat.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ng Yiwen told the court that Shahrin continued to restrain her by climbing over her and holding her arm, so the victim was unable to leave the car. He then leaned over and kissed her on her lips, but she bit him.

The woman, who cannot be named due to a court order, fled after she felt Shahrin’s grip loosen. She ran back to the pub, where her boyfriend and friends were.

By the time the police arrived at the scene, Shahrin had escaped.

Five years later, some time between Oct 20 and Nov 16, he broke into hostel rooms at Nanyang Technological University three times.

At around 5am on Nov 2 in 2016, an 18-year-old female student was asleep in her room when she was awoken by some noises.

DPP Ng said: “She was startled to see (Shahrin) standing next to her with a T-shirt covering his face. (He) was dressed in a dark jacket and was naked from the waist down.”

Shahrin asked the student, who was from China, if she wanted to have sex with him, but she said no. He asked if he could masturbate in front of her and she “agreed out of fear”, the court heard. He left after he finished what he wanted to do.

Police were alerted and he was arrested about two weeks later.

A DNA test matched his semen sample, taken from the hostel room floor, to another DNA sample from the 2011 incident.

Police officers also traced the registration number of his vehicle after a cleaner reported seeing Shahrin as the driver.

For aggravated molest, he could have been jailed between two and 10 years, with caning.

For trespass, he could been jailed up to a year, and/or fined up to S$5,000.