Deliveryman molested woman after telling her he had previously sent items to her place
Photo illustration of a man committing molest. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Lydia Lam
@LydiaLamCNA04 Jan 2023 02:40PM (Updated: 04 Jan 2023 02:40PM)
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SINGAPORE: While taking a lift up with a woman, a deliveryman told her he had previously sent items to her house and knew there were many people living there.
He later molested her and told her he knew her unit was on the other side when she tried to walk elsewhere to mislead him.
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Muhammad Fairuz Abdul Ghani, 30, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Jan 4) to three charges including molestation and driving when he was under a ban.Another two charges will be considered in sentencing.
The court heard that the victim, a 25-year-old woman, ended work and returned to her Housing Board block after buying dinner on Jun 8, 2021.
Fairuz was working as a deliveryman and went to the block to deliver goods.
The two entered the same lift on the ground floor, and the victim pressed the button for the fourth floor, while Fairuz pressed the button for the seventh floor.
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He told the victim that he had previously delivered items to her house before and knew that there were many people living there.He asked who the man living in her house was, the court heard.
At the fourth floor, the victim exited the lift and Fairuz followed her. He then touched her buttocks.
The victim was shocked and turned to look at him. Instead of heading home, she went in another direction, but Fairuz told her he knew her flat was on the other side.
The victim lodged a police report a few days later.
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The molestation was captured by closed-circuit television footage from the lift, but Fairuz initially maintained that he did not touch the victim despite being shown the footage.He had also molested another woman in September 2020 and was under investigation for this when he molested the lift passenger.
Fairuz also admitted to traffic offences - he had been banned from driving for 48 months but was caught driving a rented car with his wife as his passenger.
His wife knew he was under a driving ban but still allowed him to drive.
Defence lawyer Wee Hong Shern told the court that his client wished to defer sentence as his wife is pregnant and expected to give birth in March.
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She suffers from complications like a low placenta and has a higher chance of miscarriage. The couple have other young children who attended the court session. They also face trouble finding care arrangements for their children.The judge adjourned mitigation and sentencing to February.
Source: CNA/ll(ac)
