11 weeks’ jail for taxi driver who tried to kiss, massage female passenger
Steven Seow Tze Wang, 39, faced two charges of molestation – one for using his hand to massage her on the back of her neck and kissing her on the lips and another for trying to kiss her on the lips again.
SINGAPORE — A taxi driver was sentenced to 11 weeks’ jail on Thursday (April 9) for molesting a 30-year-old female passenger in his taxi.
Steven Seow Tze Wang, 39, faced two charges of molestation – one for using his hand to massage her on the back of her neck and kissing her on the lips and another for trying to kiss her on the lips again.
The incident took place sometime between 4.55am and 5.20am on July 28, 2019.
The court heard that the victim, who cannot be named due to a gag order, and a male friend boarded the taxi, which they had booked via the Grab mobile application after leaving a club in the Orchard area.
After the male friend was dropped off at his destination, the victim asked Seow if he could drive more quickly as she needed to use the restroom urgently.
Seow then drove to a nearby McDonald’s outlet, located near Block 103 Aljunied Crescent, so that she could use the restroom.
Afterwards, the victim returned to the taxi and sat in the front passenger seat.
On the journey home, she started to feel dizzy from the alcohol that she had consumed earlier, so she closed her eyes, leaned her head against the window and propped her head up with her left hand.
While she was doing that, however, she suddenly felt the taxi driver’s hand placed on the back of her neck as he began massaging her there.
She pushed Seow’s hand away, but he then placed his fingers into the victim’s ear.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Benedict Teong told the court that the victim found this “weird” and tried to fend him off.
That was when Seow asked the victim to look at him.
When she turned, Seow kissed her on the lips, and also tried to put his tongue into her mouth.
The victim immediately pushed him away.
Seow still drove the victim home. She reached her destination at 5.21am.
The victim immediately sent a message to a friend to ask for help upon alighting.
She also lodged a police report later that day as she did not want other female passengers to undergo the same ordeal that she had just experienced, DPP Teong said.
“The victim felt disturbed by the entire incident as she did not expect taxi drivers to do this to their passengers,” he added.
For each molestation charge, Seow could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or received any combination of these punishments.
