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The victim also alleged that while in the cab, she felt Shamsul’s hand slide up her skirt and towards her buttocks. She said she he also grabbed her right breast.
The victim told the court during the trial, “I still had no control of my body or my movements. My head was on the stone table. And then the next thing that I felt was a very forceful grab on my right breast again. I cried out in pain.”
SINGAPORE — A 53-year-old man who took advantage of a drunk woman by placing her in a taxi and trying to bring her to two hotels was on Wednesday (18 December) jailed for eight months.
Shamsul Abdullah was found guilty last month after a 10-day trial of one charge of abduction, but was acquitted of two counts of molestation.
The trial judge had found the testimony of the victim, who was 23, to be insufficiently convincing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana, in asking District Judge Tan Jen Tse to impose the eight month jail term that was meted out, said, “Under the guise of being a helpful bystander, the accused set out to take full advantage of the vulnerable victim whom he found himself alone with.”
She added, “Instead of ensuring her safe return home, the accused went on to try to bring her to two hotels and at the end of it all, left her at the void deck of her block.”
Shamsul also faces drug-related charges, which are at a pre-trial stage.
The prosecution is appealing against the acquittals for his two molestation charges.
Claimed to be Good Samaritan
At about 1.15am on 15 May 2016, Shamsul came across the victim outside Hotel 81 at 85 Lavender Street.
He hailed a cab, carried the victim into the rear passenger seat and sat next to her. He claimed at trial that he was being a “Good Samaritan” and was trying to fetch her home.
But he told the taxi driver to head to a hotel in Balestier first, before going to another one in Geylang.
The victim had consumed alcoholic drinks the night before and only recalled leaving the bar and regaining consciousness in the back of a taxi with her upper body draped over a stranger’s lap.
But on the way to the Geylang hotel, the victim kept repeating her postal code, prompting the cabby to drive her there.
The victim also alleged that while in the cab, she felt Shamsul’s hand slide up her skirt and towards her buttocks. She said she he also grabbed her right breast.
“I was only able to keep repeating my postal code. And then I faded out again and everything went black,” she testified at trial.
The taxi driver also testified to having suspected something amiss. After leaving the Balestier hotel and while on the way to the Geylang hotel, the victim kept “making a din” and repeatedly asked to be brought home, he said.
After she stated her postal code a few times, the cabby asked the victim to confirm her address and he eventually drove her to her block.
Left victim at void deck
The victim testified that when the cab reached her block, Shamsul brought her out and took her to a stone bench where he allegedly molested her.
The victim told the court during the trial, “I still had no control of my body or my movements. My head was on the stone table. And then the next thing that I felt was a very forceful grab on my right breast again. I cried out in pain.”
Passers-by later came across the victim crying and called the police. A female officer had to spend about 20 to 30 minutes to calm the victim down before the policewoman could get the brief facts of the case.
The victim also recounted the impact that the incident had on her to the court. “I could still feel how he touched me, I still had flashbacks of the night.”
The victim said she also developed a mistrust of people, affecting her friendships and even her relationship with her fiance. “I avoided dark and crowded areas, I could not stand being in a cab at night,” she said.
“I don’t think I can ever move on from this trauma. I think that even after this trial has concluded, I will still remember how he touched me. It’s not going to erase what happened, it’s not going to erase what he did to me. The weight of all this will carry on with me for a very long time,” she added.
Meanwhile, Shamsul claimed at trial that he was a responsible father who was out that night searching for his daughter who had run away from home. He also claimed, among other things, that it was the cabby’s idea to bring them to the Balestier Hotel as the latter must’ve thought that they were in a relationship.
He was represented by pro-bono lawyers Sadhana Rai and Marjorie Kong.
DPP Sruthi said in her sentencing submissions, “It is clear that the victim was highly vulnerable by virtue of her intoxication. As evident from the CCTV footage from Hotel 81, she had limited control over her body and needed assistance to move to places.
“The accused...promptly flagged a taxi and carried the victim into it to abduct her – with a view towards taking advantage of her vulnerable state. He attempted twice, to bring her to a hotel and his plans were thwarted only because of the victim’s act of shouting her postal code - thereby alerting the taxi driver and prompting him to ask the accused to confirm the victim’s address.”
The DPP highlighted three cases where victims were forcefully compelled into vehicles, for which the perpetrators were handed 8 month jail terms for their offences.
The maximum punishment for abduction, which is forcefully compelling or deceitfully inducing a person to go from one place to another, is up to seven years’ jail, along with a fine and caning. Only male offenders below the age of 50 can be caned.
https://sg.yahoo.com/news/man-who-p...ed-to-get-her-to-hotels-jailed-123717434.html
The victim told the court during the trial, “I still had no control of my body or my movements. My head was on the stone table. And then the next thing that I felt was a very forceful grab on my right breast again. I cried out in pain.”
SINGAPORE — A 53-year-old man who took advantage of a drunk woman by placing her in a taxi and trying to bring her to two hotels was on Wednesday (18 December) jailed for eight months.
Shamsul Abdullah was found guilty last month after a 10-day trial of one charge of abduction, but was acquitted of two counts of molestation.
The trial judge had found the testimony of the victim, who was 23, to be insufficiently convincing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana, in asking District Judge Tan Jen Tse to impose the eight month jail term that was meted out, said, “Under the guise of being a helpful bystander, the accused set out to take full advantage of the vulnerable victim whom he found himself alone with.”
She added, “Instead of ensuring her safe return home, the accused went on to try to bring her to two hotels and at the end of it all, left her at the void deck of her block.”
Shamsul also faces drug-related charges, which are at a pre-trial stage.
The prosecution is appealing against the acquittals for his two molestation charges.
Claimed to be Good Samaritan
At about 1.15am on 15 May 2016, Shamsul came across the victim outside Hotel 81 at 85 Lavender Street.
He hailed a cab, carried the victim into the rear passenger seat and sat next to her. He claimed at trial that he was being a “Good Samaritan” and was trying to fetch her home.
But he told the taxi driver to head to a hotel in Balestier first, before going to another one in Geylang.
The victim had consumed alcoholic drinks the night before and only recalled leaving the bar and regaining consciousness in the back of a taxi with her upper body draped over a stranger’s lap.
But on the way to the Geylang hotel, the victim kept repeating her postal code, prompting the cabby to drive her there.
The victim also alleged that while in the cab, she felt Shamsul’s hand slide up her skirt and towards her buttocks. She said she he also grabbed her right breast.
“I was only able to keep repeating my postal code. And then I faded out again and everything went black,” she testified at trial.
The taxi driver also testified to having suspected something amiss. After leaving the Balestier hotel and while on the way to the Geylang hotel, the victim kept “making a din” and repeatedly asked to be brought home, he said.
After she stated her postal code a few times, the cabby asked the victim to confirm her address and he eventually drove her to her block.
Left victim at void deck
The victim testified that when the cab reached her block, Shamsul brought her out and took her to a stone bench where he allegedly molested her.
The victim told the court during the trial, “I still had no control of my body or my movements. My head was on the stone table. And then the next thing that I felt was a very forceful grab on my right breast again. I cried out in pain.”
Passers-by later came across the victim crying and called the police. A female officer had to spend about 20 to 30 minutes to calm the victim down before the policewoman could get the brief facts of the case.
The victim also recounted the impact that the incident had on her to the court. “I could still feel how he touched me, I still had flashbacks of the night.”
The victim said she also developed a mistrust of people, affecting her friendships and even her relationship with her fiance. “I avoided dark and crowded areas, I could not stand being in a cab at night,” she said.
“I don’t think I can ever move on from this trauma. I think that even after this trial has concluded, I will still remember how he touched me. It’s not going to erase what happened, it’s not going to erase what he did to me. The weight of all this will carry on with me for a very long time,” she added.
Meanwhile, Shamsul claimed at trial that he was a responsible father who was out that night searching for his daughter who had run away from home. He also claimed, among other things, that it was the cabby’s idea to bring them to the Balestier Hotel as the latter must’ve thought that they were in a relationship.
He was represented by pro-bono lawyers Sadhana Rai and Marjorie Kong.
DPP Sruthi said in her sentencing submissions, “It is clear that the victim was highly vulnerable by virtue of her intoxication. As evident from the CCTV footage from Hotel 81, she had limited control over her body and needed assistance to move to places.
“The accused...promptly flagged a taxi and carried the victim into it to abduct her – with a view towards taking advantage of her vulnerable state. He attempted twice, to bring her to a hotel and his plans were thwarted only because of the victim’s act of shouting her postal code - thereby alerting the taxi driver and prompting him to ask the accused to confirm the victim’s address.”
The DPP highlighted three cases where victims were forcefully compelled into vehicles, for which the perpetrators were handed 8 month jail terms for their offences.
The maximum punishment for abduction, which is forcefully compelling or deceitfully inducing a person to go from one place to another, is up to seven years’ jail, along with a fine and caning. Only male offenders below the age of 50 can be caned.
https://sg.yahoo.com/news/man-who-p...ed-to-get-her-to-hotels-jailed-123717434.html
