Man gropes buttocks of 15-year-old girl in lift -- then punches GF's face after suspecting her of reporting him to Police

Elena Chong 
The Straits Times
31 January 2017

Nine days after molesting a young girl in a lift, an unemployed man assaulted his ex-girlfriend, a court heard.

On Tuesday (Jan 31), Budiman Tarmidi, 25, was sentenced to 13 months' jail for both offences after pleading guilty. His sentence was backdated to June 13, 2016.

The court heard that on May 31, 2016, a 15-year-old girl had stopped by a minimart to get a drink on the way home. Budiman followed her into the minimart and stared at her. She ignored him.

He left the minimart before the victim, but waited outside for her. He followed her to the lift lobby of her block, and asked for her name.

Afraid, she gave him a fake name.

They got into the lift and he stood behind her.

When the lift was ascending, he used his hand to grope her buttocks three to four times. She was frightened and did not know what to do.

When the lift door opened, she rushed out and informed her sister what had happened. The sister called the police.

Budiman was arrested a week later and produced in court on June 8.

On the evening of June 8, he sent a WhatsApp message to his ex-girlfriend, Ms Rinadiana Rafa'at, 27, asking if she had told the police of his whereabouts, leading to his arrest. She denied this.

The next day, Budiman followed her from her home to Jurong East Street 32.

At the void deck of Block 371 Jurong East Street 32, Budiman approached her aggressively and asked why she had been avoiding him.

"The victim replied that they were no longer in a relationship and she just wanted to get away from him," said Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew.

He demanded that she follow him. When she refused, he grabbed her wrist and led her to the side of the void deck.

There, he punched her on her left cheek twice. He then grabbed her by the back of her neck, pushed her head down forcefully, and used his knee to hit her cheek.

He pulled her to a walkway nearby. The victim told him to stop as she was in pain and her face was swelling.

When her two friends turned up, Budiman left. The victim lodged a police report.

Budiman has previous convictions in 2013 for outrage of modesty.

His lawyer Vinit Chhabra said a psychiatrist had found his client to have borderline intelligence and that his judgment was partially impaired.

District Judge Lee Poh Choo, who took a third charge of criminal intimidation into consideration, accepted the prosecution's submissions that no weight be given to Budiman's borderline intelligence as he knew what he was doing, and understood the implications of his actions.

Budiman could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or received a combined punishment for outrage of modesty.

For causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000.

The Straits Times

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