SINGAPORE – Three men who allegedly molested people in separate cases at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) have been charged on March 1, along with two other men who purportedly molested women in other locations.
In one of the MBS cases, Singaporean Derrick Peh Chin Kiat, 35, faces one charge of outrage of modesty.
He allegedly molested a woman, 32, by squeezing her buttock at the Marquee nightclub in MBS on Jan 1, 2024, around 3am.
At the same nightclub between 3am and 5am on Dec 17, 2023, British national Ryan Charles Duncan, 31, allegedly molested a male victim, also 31, by touching his buttocks twice.
For this, Duncan faces two charges of outrage of modesty.
Indian national Merla Ramakrishna Madhusudhan, 49, allegedly molested a woman, 38, by touching her thigh outside MBS’ casino on July 5, 2023, at about 5am.
He faces two charges of outrage of modesty. In court, it was revealed that he and the victim are strangers.
Another Indian national, Kannan Govindaraji, 33, faces one charge of outrage of modesty for purportedly molesting a woman, 44, on Feb 9, 2024, at the Chinatown Bazaar in Temple Street.
Lim Wai Sin, a 63-year-old Singaporean, allegedly molested a woman, 28, on a public bus in the Pek Kio area on Dec 27, 2023. He faces one charge of outrage of modesty.
Duncan, Lim and Kannan intend to plead guilty, while Merla and Peh have not indicated their plea. All five men were granted bail.
If convicted, molesters can be jailed for up to three years, fined or caned, or given any combination of such punishments.
Outrage of modesty cases remain a key concern, the police said in a news release on Feb 29.
Recent annual crime statistics show there were 1,528 outrage of modesty cases in 2023, down from 1,610 in 2022.
But the 135 cases at nightspots was a slight rise from 129 cases in 2022.
Residential premises, public transport and nightspots were the top three locations where offenders struck in 2023.
Following the increase in molestation cases at nightspots, a campaign aimed at encouraging nightlife outlets and patrons to adopt safe clubbing practices returned in January.
Under the year-long Safe Clubbing Campaign, staff of public entertainment outlets will be trained to handle situations involving intoxicated patrons effectively and safely.
The police said they have “zero tolerance towards sexual offenders who threaten the personal safety of those in the community”, and they will continue to work with public entertainment outlets, public transport operators and the community to prevent molestation cases.
