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SINGAPORE – A man who was sentenced to 13 weeks in jail in August after illegally leaving his home during the circuit break period in April will spend more time behind bars following his conviction on an unrelated sexual assault charge. .
Indian national Sethu Selvaraj, 44, who completed his previous prison sentence for crimes under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, was sentenced to two years in prison and two strokes of the baton on Tuesday (December 15) for sexually abusing an Indonesian. Domestic helper.
The Singaporean permanent resident was in a Bukit Panjang coffee shop around 8 p.m. on June 6 last year when he saw the 37-year-old woman.
She was walking back to her employer’s flat on Petir Road when Sethu tried to befriend her.
Deputy Prosecutor Shana Poon said: “While following the victim, the defendant asked her for her name and mobile phone number.
“The victim told the defendant her name and that she did not have a mobile phone. She then continued walking back to her employer’s residence.”
They were on the empty deck of a block of flats when Sethu grabbed the aide’s right hand and held onto it.
He also used his body to prevent her from climbing a flight of stairs.
The court heard that the woman managed to free herself and run up the stairs.
Undaunted, Sethu chased after the victim and hugged her tightly from behind on a landing between the first and second floors.
He continued to hold her as she struggled to free herself, the court heard.
The terrified woman screamed for help and her screams attracted the attention of an off-duty police officer in the vicinity.
The 34-year-old senior staff sergeant ran upstairs and spotted the couple.
Sethu was arrested after he finally released the woman.
On Tuesday, District Judge Marvin Bay said: “It is important that foreign domestic workers, a vulnerable class of people, are adequately protected from sexual exploitation … It was fortuitous that the (police officer) was present (and) situationally aware enough to find out what was going on and … intervene directly. “
For sexual abuse, Sethu could have been imprisoned for up to 10 years and flogged.
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