8 men charged for separate cases of outrage of modesty: 1 had used criminal force, hurled abuse at police

Eight men will be charged today (Feb 27) for eight separate cases of outrage of modesty, the police said in a statement yesterday (Feb 26).

The men, aged between 23 and 67, committed the offences between November 2016 and December 2017.

The brief details of the cases are as follows: 

1. On Mar 11, 2017, the police received a report that a 19-year-old woman was molested at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. A 29-year-old male suspect was arrested on the same day. He will face an additional charge of using criminal force against the woman for pulling her hair to stop her from leaving.
2. On Aug 17, 2017, the police received a report that a 32-year-old woman was molested in a restaurant along Unity Street. A 42-year-old male suspect was arrested on the same day. He will face additional charges of using criminal force, voluntarily causing hurt and using abusive words against a public servant.
3. On Sep 24, 2017, the police received a report that a 39-year-old woman was molested in a hotel along Orchard Road. A 67-year-old male suspect was subsequently arrested. He will face an additional charge of outrage of modesty involving a 41-year-old woman for a separate incident reported on Oct 2, 2017. 
4. On Nov 8 and Nov 11, 2017, the police received reports that a 55-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman were molested by a cyclist along Toa Payoh Lorong 1 and Toa Payoh Lorong 8 respectively. On Nov 15, 2017, a 23-year-old male suspect involved in both incidents was arrested.
5. On Nov 27, 2017, the police received a report that a 33-year-old woman was molested at a public entertainment outlet along Emerald Hill. A 33- year-old male suspect was arrested on the same day.
6. On Dec 1, 2017, the police received a report that a 23-year-old woman was molested while exiting the lift at a HDB block along Sin Ming Avenue. A 28-year-old male suspect was identified and he was subsequently arrested.
7. On Dec 10, 2017, the police received a report that a 19-year-old woman was molested in a private-hire vehicle at the basement carpark of a hotel located in Orchard Road. A 36-year-old male suspect was identified and he was arrested the same day. He faces a total of three counts of outrage of modesty.
8. On Nov 14, 2016, the police received a report that a 15-year-old girl was molested on a train heading from Bishan MRT Station towards Marymount MRT Station. The victim recounted two incidents on Nov 8 and Nov 9 the same year where she was molested by the same suspect. A 34-year old male suspect was subsequently identified and he was arrested on Nov 18, 2016.

In an effort to prevent outrage of modesty cases from happening in public entertainment outlets, the police have been working with operators on additional security measures such as the installation of closed-circuit televisions.

In addition, operators are required to prevent overcrowding and ensure sufficient lighting within their premises.

Patrols are also conducted in public transport areas by officers from the Public Transport Security Command to project Police presence and deter outrage of modesty cases, the police said.

"The police also actively disseminate crime prevention advice to commuters and these are done through posters, videos and crime prevention roadshows in areas such as trains, train stations and bus interchanges," they added.

Anyone convicted of outrage of modesty may be jailed a maximum of two years, fined and caned.