Elderly man molested woman, offered her husband S$10 to let him go

SINGAPORE: An 84-year-old man who molested a woman as she walked past him later offered her husband S$10 to let him go.

Poh Seng Khian was sentenced to 18 weeks' jail on Tuesday (Jan 7) after pleading guilty to one count of using criminal force on the 47-year-old victim, whose identity is protected by gag order.

The court heard that Poh had gone to People's Park Centre on the morning of May 12 last year to have breakfast and to shop.

At about 11.50am, the victim and her husband walked from the second floor of the centre towards a link bridge to Upper Cross Street.

As the victim's husband, 48, was walking in front of her, he turned and waited for his wife to catch up.

At this time, Poh walked towards the victim from the opposite direction.

As he crossed paths with her, he deliberately extended his arm and used his elbow to bump into her breast.

This stunned and shocked the woman, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Melina Chew.

The second floor of People's Park Centre was not crowded and people were able to walk about freely without coming into physical contact with each other, the court heard.

The woman's husband immediately apprehended Poh and stopped him from leaving.

While waiting for the police to arrive, Poh apologised for touching the woman's breast and offered her husband S$10 to let him go.

The man refused, and Poh was arrested when police arrived.

The judge allowed him to defer his sentence to Jan 28.

For outraging the modesty of the woman, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.