Married man 'fell in love' with woman and molested her after stalking her for months, gets jail

SINGAPORE: A married man "fell in love" with a younger woman who lived and worked near him, and stalked her for months before molesting her.

Tia Sin Kwang, 56, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years' jail on Friday (Jan 28) for one count of using wrongful restraint to molest the victim in a lift. A second charge of unlawful stalking was considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Tia was acquainted with the victim as they worked in the same building and lived in the same neighbourhood. They saw each other in the area and at the office canteen, occasionally making small talk.

However, they were not friends, the prosecutor said.

Sometime in early 2021, Tia saw the victim with her daughter and asked if she wanted some books for the child.

When the victim agreed, they exchanged numbers. Tia met the victim and followed her to the floor she lived on the pretext of escorting her upstairs.

From May 12, 2021, Tia stalked the victim in multiple ways. These include: Repeatedly sending her text messages asking if she loves him despite her rejecting his feelings, standing outside her flat and following the victim when she was at the void deck with her daughter.

On the morning of Aug 6, 2021, the victim left her flat for work when she saw Tia loitering at the lift lobby.

He followed her into the lift and while in there, Tia placed his hand on the victim's shoulder and stood very closely behind her.

The victim pushed Tia's arm away and tried to move away.

He then grabbed both her arms and trapped her in a corner. The victim tried to move away, but Tia molested her, stopping only when other people entered the lift.

He continued to follow the victim to the bus stop, boarding a bus and sitting beside her. The victim changed seats, but Tia continued to tail her when she switched buses to get to her office.

Along the way, he showed the victim a photo of her that he had in his phone which she had uploaded on Facebook in May 2021.

Feeling disgusted, the victim moved away from Tia, but he kept following her, eventually giving up when she took another bus.

The prosecutor asked for three-and-a-half years' jail for Tia, inclusive of jail time in lieu of caning as he is above 50.

Defence lawyer Foo Ho Chew said a plain reading of the statement of facts, without knowing Tia's background, would make one think "he is a bigger monster than he really is".

"He is a very good colleague and employee and has worked for the company for 10 years ... and most people find him to be dependable and reliable," said Mr Foo.

He added that "all his daughters vouch for him that he had been a good father", and a good husband to his wife of 30 years.

"He started acting out of character when he met the victim," said the lawyer. "When he fell in love with her head over heels and lost his sense of good judgment. During the time he met her until the offence, he was not acting like his usual self, and he gave in to his emotion when he ought not to."

He said he was hoping the victim would "reciprocate" as he had been treating her "very well, giving her gifts and hoping she understood what they were for.

He said Tia is "truly sorry" and is "deeply ashamed" of what he did to the victim, as well as "deeply sorry for hurting his wife and three children".

In response, the prosecutor said Tia had been stalking the victim from May to August, and "really had no hope that she would reciprocate his feelings" as she had already been rejecting them over text.

She made it clear she was not interested and told Tia to stop contacting her, but he persisted in stalking her, said the prosecutor.

For using wrongful restraint to molest the victim in a lift, he could have been jailed for between three years and 10 years. He could not be caned as he is above 50.