SCDF officer charged for molesting woman 3 times: Third recent case involving a Home Team officer

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Feb 20, 2023

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer has been handed three molestation charges after he allegedly targeted a woman at several places, including one of the agency’s premises.

The man was there on Aug 23, 2021, when he allegedly outraged the woman’s modesty on two separate occasions.

He is accused of molesting her again 11 days later.

Details about the woman and the locations of the alleged offences cannot be disclosed because of a gag order.

The man’s name and particulars have also been redacted from court documents, which did not say how he was linked to the woman.

On Monday, SCDF told The Straits Times the man has been suspended on half pay since Jan 13.

Its spokesman said: “SCDF takes a very serious view of the incident. Upon being alerted, we immediately conducted an internal investigation.

“We promptly lodged a police report after our investigation, removed the alleged offender from front-line duties, and placed him in an administrative post pending police investigation.

“We also provided counselling for the alleged victim. SCDF is unable to comment further as court proceedings are ongoing.”

The man’s case has been adjourned to March 10.

For each count of molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to two years, fined or caned, or receive any combination of these punishments.

There have been recent cases involving Home Team officers accused of molestation.

On Jan 20, a policeman and a retired police officer were charged with multiple counts of molestation.

One of them was on active duty when he allegedly molested at least one man between 2003 and 2006.

Rama Shankar Singh, 59, who has since retired, was handed eight charges, including five counts of molestation – each allegedly involving a male victim.

In an unrelated case, policeman Abdul Gaffor Jainul Hussain, 47, was charged with four counts of molestation after he allegedly outraged the modesty of a woman in 2020.

The actual number of alleged victims linked to the two cases cannot be determined for now, as their names have been redacted from court documents. The documents also did not disclose how the alleged victims were linked to Singh and Abdul Gaffor.

In an earlier statement, the police said the alleged offences by Singh surfaced in a report made by one of the victims on Dec 13, 2020.

A police spokesman said investigations started after the report was made. She added: “At the time of the report, (Singh) had already retired from service, and was no longer with the SPF (Singapore Police Force) from June 13, 2016. Victim care support was offered to the victims.”

The spokesman added that Abdul Gaffor’s alleged offences surfaced in a police report made by the victim on May 11, 2021.

The police removed him from front-line duties.

The cases involving Singh and Abdul Gaffor are pending.