Engineer who stroked 12-year-old girl's thigh and touched her breast on USS ride jailed 9 months

Shaffiq Idris Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Monday, Feb 28, 2017

While riding on a roller coaster, he repeatedly molested a 12-year-old girl sitting beside him.

Engineer Rohit Kumar Joshi, 28, was jailed for nine months on Tuesday (Feb 28) after pleading guilty to outrage of modesty.

The girl and two friends went to Sentosa on Oct 19, 2015 and boarded the Revenge of the Mummy Ride at Universal Studios Singapore (USS) at around 3pm.

Rohit, who is an Indian national, sat beside the girl and stroked her outer right thigh while the ride was operating.

Assuming it was an accident, she ignored his touches at first as the ride was moving at a high speed.

Undeterred, Rohit started stroking her right arm.

She nudged his hand away but instead of stopping, he touched her right breast.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Taufiq Suraidi said: "The victim then crossed both her arms across her chest to prevent him from touching her again.

"The accused did not touch the victim again until the ride came to a stop."

The girl told one of her friends about her ordeal and they alerted a USS staff member.

The police were then notified at 5.10pm.

For outrage of modesty, Rohit could have been jailed for up to five years, fined, caned or receive a combined punishment.