A 20-year-old man, Sree Kanth Murugan, has pleaded guilty to inappropriately touching a 34-year-old foreign worker who had fallen asleep at a HDB void deck in Kim Keat Avenue last year.
According to Today, the incident took place in October 2023, at around 1:30 am, after the victim’s relative had left him at the void deck to return to his flat and prepare for a flight.
Victim fell asleep at the void deck
The sleeping man was waiting for his relative to give him a ride to his dormitory on the way to the airport. However, he was unaware that Murugan, who had just finished his supper, was approaching him.
Murugan had noticed the victim sleeping and noticed the smell of alcohol on him. He contemplated his actions for three to five minutes before deciding to touch the older man inappropriately and then committing a more severe offense.
Woke up and saw Murugan’s ‘thing’ dangling in front of him
When the victim woke up, he found that his private parts were exposed and Murugan sitting at his feet. Murugan ran off, and the victim gave chase.
However, Murugan managed to escape to his home but was arrested later that same morning.
Prosecution’s stand
The prosecution has characterized Murugan’s actions as a “brazen s- offense,” and they have requested a report to assess his suitability for reformative training instead of probation.
They argued that Murugan had preyed on the victim while he was sleeping and in a vulnerable state and that he had run away once he was caught by the victim.
The prosecution believes that probation would not be effective in deterring Murugan from committing such offenses in the future and that rehabilitation would be more effective in a more structured environment like reformative training.
Mitigating factors
In mitigation, Murugan’s defense lawyer argued that sending him for reformative training would be like placing him in a “den full of wolves” and that a probation officer would provide him with sufficient guidance.
The defense lawyer believes that Murugan was “someone screaming for help” and that he had acted impulsively due to his young age and lack of understanding of s- issues.
The judge agreed with both the prosecution and the defense that rehabilitation would be the predominant consideration for sentencing and called for both suitability reports.
The next hearing is scheduled for May 9.