Engineer gropes women in lift

Engineer gropes women in lift

He terrorised his neighbours, following two women, then molesting them in the confines of a lift.

On both occasions, he touched their breasts.

One of them grappled with him, but he escaped.

But Wang Xiong, 24, did not get far.

Yesterday, the Chinese national was jailed six months for one count of outrage of modesty, with another taken into consideration.

FIRST VICTIM

The court heard that Wang, who is working in Singapore as a site engineer, had alighted from an MRT train sometime before 7.45pm on Jan 27.

He was walking towards his rented flat in Jurong West when he saw the 27-year-old woman in front of him.

He decided to tail her.

At about 7.45pm, she reached her block, entered a lift and pressed the button for the third storey.

Wang followed her into the lift and pressed the button for the 10th storey.

As she moved forward to leave the lift at the third storey, Wang stretched out his left hand and touched her left breast.

She managed to shrug him off before grappling with him while shouting for help.

Wang fled down the stairs. The woman gave chase, but she slipped, fell and lost him.

She rushed home to call the police.

SECOND VICTIM

Court documents revealed that Wang faced a similar outrage of modesty charge for touching the breast of a 21-year-old woman - also in a lift in Jurong West ­- six days earlier.

This charge was taken into consideration.

Yesterday, defence lawyer S. S. Dhillon said in mitigation that Wang, who was working with a construction company for about five months then, had suffered a momentary memory lapse and ended up following the victim to her block.

He said that after Wang touched the victim's breast, she turned around and hit him several times on his face. Wang did not retaliate.

He added that Wang was intensely remorseful and pleaded for leniency.

In sentencing, District Judge Lee Poh Choo said: "Residential places should be safe for people to stay and to return home to."

She noted that one of the offences took place at 11pm and said the facts showed there was clear premeditation involved.

She added Wang should not be here to commit crime and make Singapore a less safe place.


This article was first published on July 23, 2014.
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