3 weeks’ jail for security guard who touched man’s thigh, showed him porn video on the MRT

SINGAPORE — While on the MRT, he licked his lips as he made eye contact with a 20-year-old male student, then gestured to his shirt pocket.

The meaning he was trying to convey: That he was willing to pay the student to sit beside him. 

The student ignored him, so Marimuthu Jayabal, 67, who works as a security guard, went over to sit next to him, then showed him a pornographic video on his mobile phone and asked him if he liked it.

After the student replied “no”, Marimuthu proceeded to run his hand along the man’s thigh. 

For this act of molest, Marimuthu was sentenced to three weeks in jail on Tuesday (Oct 8). Another charge of publicly exhibiting an obscene object by showing the pornographic video was taken into consideration during sentencing.

‘I AM AFRAID OF THE DARK’

Marimuthu — who has never been jailed before — started wailing after the court session ended.

When the court was still in session, he asked not to be handcuffed, telling District Judge Luke Tan that he was “very frightened” of handcuffs.

The judge said he would let the prison service handle the request. 

During his mitigation hearing, Marimuthu, who was not represented by a lawyer, had repeatedly made reference to his fear of prisons and handcuffs, as he pleaded to be levied with a fine instead of jail time.

“I am afraid of the dark, confinement and handcuffs. I don’t want to go to prison. Even when I was arrested, I was led away without any handcuffs,” he said in Tamil through an interpreter. 

“Your honour, I will not reoffend. Please forgive me, sir. Your honour, I have repented. I am a Christian,” he added.

He also told the Court that he was the sole breadwinner of his family, and that his earnings of about S$80 a day goes towards supporting his daughter, who is sickly, and wife, who suffers from “old-age ailments”. 

He himself suffers from a heart condition and a collapsed hip joint that prevents him from walking fast, running or climbing the stairs, he said.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Joshua Lim noted that the growing need for the courts to deter offenders from committing outrage of modesty cases on public transport has been “highlighted on multiple occasions in Parliament”.

Furthermore, Marimuthu’s acts of prolonged staring, licking of lips and gesturing towards his pocket to indicate money reflect “traces of pre-meditation”, which is an aggravating factor, the DPP added.

WHAT HE DID

Marimuthu committed his offence past 3pm on July 4 last year inside an MRT train that was travelling between Sembawang and Bukit Gombak MRT stations. 

The victim, who cannot be named due to a gag order, was headed home on the train when Marimuthu boarded. 

Marimuthu took a seat right next to the MRT doors and began staring at the victim while licking his lips.

The victim then took a seat adjacent to Marimuthu’s. They were separated by the MRT doors and the glass panels on the sides of the seats.

Marimuthu continued to stare at the victim and gestured for him to come over and sit beside him.

The victim shook his head and looked away, yet Marimuthu continued his advances and gesturing to his own shirt pocket.

A while later, Marimuthu got up and stood by the MRT door and continued staring at the victim, then sat next to him and started to talk to him. 

The victim looked straight ahead the whole time, until Marimuthu tapped the victim on his thigh and showed him the porn video that was playing on his cellphone. 

When the victim responded by saying “no” to him and looking away, Marimuthu touched the victim on his thigh again, and moved his hand along it.

The victim then stood up and alighted at Bukit Gombak MRT station. 

Marimuthu followed the victim, going as far as to exit the station and cross the road at a traffic light with him.

The victim went to a neighbourhood police post at about 6.30pm that evening to lodge a police report.

In sentencing Marimuthu, District Judge Tan said his offence was “very audacious” and “very persistent”, noting that they were committed even when the victim had repeatedly ignored and avoided him.

For molesting the man, Marimuthu could have been jailed for up to two years, and/or fined.