TCM clinic owner on trial for molesting 3 dancers during massages

SINGAPORE: She had gone for a massage session at a clinic recommended by a fellow dancer to relieve sore muscles, but ended up being allegedly molested instead.

The 29-year-old dancer, who cannot be named due to a gag order, realised that she had allegedly been touched inappropriately only after talking to two women at her dance studio, who shared similar experiences.

She filed a police report later and did not return to the Genki Wellness Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic thereafter.

The woman was giving her testimony on the witness stand in a district court on Monday (Nov 26) against Genki Wellness sole proprietor Qu Laihua, 55.

Qu has claimed trial on three charges of using criminal force on three women, then aged 26 to 30, on different occasions in March 2016, intending to outrage their modesty.

The 29-year-old woman told the court on Monday that she began going to the clinic for full-body massages in 2015.

The massages were carried out by women, she said, but this changed in 2016.

When she walked in for her first massage there that year, she was told that there was no other available masseuse, and she was massaged by Qu.

He did not touch her inappropriately on that occasion, she said, and she returned for a second and third massage, where a female masseuse began the massage before Qu took over.

However, on Mar 11 2016, the dancer made an appointment at the clinic in UE Square and went down for her usual massage.

After taking off her clothes, she lay down on the massage bed in just her underwear, with boyshorts over them.

She explained to the court that she used to wear just the disposable underwear provided by the clinic, but decided to wear boy shorts as she knew she could be massaged by a man.

The woman who had ushered the victim in came in to begin the two-hour massage, but about half-way through, she told the victim that "her hand was painful".

Qu took over the massage, the victim said.

She was lying on her front at the time, and Qu began the massage from her butt area, moving down to her calves.

After the dancer turned over to lie on her back, Qu asked her to prop her leg up in a V shape, the victim said.

He then began massaging her leg, beginning with her calf and moving up towards her pubic area.

It was then that he allegedly molested her under her boyshorts, at the edge of her underwear, she said.

He allegedly did this while massaging both legs, the victim testified.

"At first I started to feel uncomfortable," she said. "I thought it was an accident. Then when he repeated a few times, I thought it was his massage technique."

After a while, she began to feel even more uncomfortable and said "no" in Mandarin two to three times, covering her groin area with both hands.

"What was his reaction?" deputy public prosecutor Nicholas Lai asked.

"He continued," the victim answered.

Asked why she had not said anything earlier, she said she was still processing what had happened and thought it could have been unintentional.

She left the clinic after the S$100 massage ended, and did not tell anyone about it as she felt confused, until the topic came up with a fellow dancer at her dance studio.

"We talked about going for the massage. 'He massaged very near the private part, it's kind of weird right', then I realised I wasn't the only one," said the victim. "Another dancer at the same studio overheard. She opened up and said she had a similar experience and she was holding it in because she was also very confused."

After this, the 29-year-old spoke to her parents about it. They were concerned that if Qu saw her face, she would be in danger, she said.

Even so, she filed a police report on Apr 1, 2016.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

If found guilty of using criminal force to outrage a person's modesty, Qu can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.