SINGAPORE — After spotting a woman that he was instantly attracted to, a man followed her home and pushed her against the wall of a lift where he restrained and molested her.
Muhammad Farhan Abdullah, 24, pleaded guilty on Thursday (Oct 19) to voluntarily using wrongful restraint on his victim to outrage her modesty.
Farhan is set to return to court on Nov 16 for sentencing. The victim cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.
Deputy Public Prosecutor June Ngian told the court that on the afternoon of Feb 1 this year, Farhan was walking around a wet market in Serangoon when he spotted the 36-year-old woman.
Attracted to her, he followed her back to her public housing block where they waited for the lift together at the lobby.
When they entered the lift, the woman pressed the button for the fifth floor before asking Farhan which floor he would be going to.
Upon hearing Farhan’s response, she pressed the button for the 12th floor and the lift doors closed.
This was when Farhan attempted to overpower the woman by grabbing her arms and pushing her against the wall of the lift, said DPP Ngian.
The woman then turned around to try and escape but Farhan continued to try and restrain her by placing his arms around her shoulders and holding onto her hands and arms.
While he had her restrained, Farhan tried to kiss the woman on the face and neck.
He also tried to pull down her shorts but the woman managed to hold on to her shorts and keep them up.
The court heard that during the struggle, Farhan had also touched her chest and said that it “felt good”.
As the woman tried to push Farhan away, he warned her: “Don’t shout or I will kill you, I have a knife.”
Farhan actually did not have a knife with him at the time of the incident and had told the woman that he possessed one to prevent her from shouting, DPP Ngian said.
When the lift reached the fifth floor, the woman tried to run out of the lift but Farhan tried to pull her back in.
He only loosened his grip and let her go after the woman shouted “help me” several times.
The woman’s husband called the police after the incident and Farhan was arrested on the same day.
Seeking a sentence of four to five years’ jail and six strokes of the cane, DPP Ngian said that the assault not only took place in a confined space but it was also premeditated as Farhan had followed the woman home.
DPP Ngian added that Farhan had also used force and intimidation with intrusion to the victim’s private parts when he touched her chest and attempted to pull down her shorts.
For voluntarily causing wrongful restraint, Farhan could be jailed up to 10 years and caned.