Ex-national footballer who molested his Tinder date's friend gets jail and fine, plans to appeal

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
November 13, 2020

A former national football player was sentenced on Friday (Nov 13) to 18 weeks' jail and a fine of $1,000 for offences including molesting his Tinder date's friend.

The incident happened after Mohammad Imran Sahib Mohamed Ibrahim Sahib met a woman on the online dating platform and they went clubbing together in 2018 with one of her female friends.

After the night out, the married man decided to take both women home in his car. But after dropping off his date, he molested the victim when they were alone.

The victim and her friend cannot be named owing to a gag order.

Last month, District Judge Kan Shuk Weng convicted the 38-year-old Singaporean after a trial of two counts of molestation and one count of using criminal force on the victim.

On Friday, Judge Kan said that one of the acts of molestation took place while the car was on the move, reducing the victim's chance of escape.

She noted that the father-of-three is a first-time offender and had contributed to Singapore's sporting scene when he was a national football player.

In her submissions during the trial, Deputy Public Prosecutor Chee Ee Ling said that when Imran and the two women left a club called Baliza in Raffles Boulevard at around 6am on March 4, 2018, his date threw up.

While her friend was looking after her, Imran grabbed and kissed the victim on the lips.

But she still got into his car, as she did not want to leave her friend alone with him.

After his date left the car at her destination, Imran told the victim to sit in the front passenger seat. He molested her again as they were travelling along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6.

The victim got out of the car "in a frenzy" when Imran stopped by the roadside to relieve himself.

DPP Chee said the "terrified" victim "walked barefooted to (her friend's block of flats) for about 1½ km. In the victim's haste, she left her high-heeled shoes in the accused's car".

She arrived at the void deck at 7.17am and waited until around 8am before taking a taxi home.

Although she told her sister about her ordeal, she waited 16 days to make a police report.

DPP Chee said she was initially afraid of Imran.

The court heard that since the incident, the victim "had nightmares of people raping her and there was once she dreamt that she committed suicide".

"To this day, it is clear the victim is still traumatised by her ordeal, as she appeared visibly upset and broke down four times while testifying in court," the DPP added.

Imran, who was represented by lawyer Revi Shanker, denied molesting the woman. He claimed she had consumed amphetamine and was acting "strangely", shouting at strangers as the night wore on.

He said he intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence. His bail was set at $15,000 on Friday.

For each count of molestation, an offender can be jailed up to two years and fined or caned.