Jail for man, 65, who sucked teen's thumb

The elderly man told a girl that he could see ghosts and later asked her about the colour of her private parts.

He also asked her to be his goddaughter and placed her thumb in his mouth to suck.

Yesterday, Gan Hee Chit, 65, was jailed seven weeks for insulting her modesty and using criminal force with the intent to outrage her modesty.

On April 12, last year, at about 4pm, the 17-year-old student was on bus service 45 heading home after school.

Gan boarded the bus and sat beside the girl, introducing himself as someone who could see ghosts and read palms. He then read her palm.

He followed her when she alighted and boarded bus service 133, still holding her hands.

He also asked her to be his goddaughter and for her number, making her feel afraid.

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When the girl alighted at Kampong Glam, he followed her again and asked several personal questions about her private parts, claiming such questions were normal.

She felt offended throughout and afraid he would follow her to her actual address, the girl went to a random unit and lied that she had forgotten her keys.

But Gan refused to leave, and flashed his nipple at her.

They later went to a coffee shop where the girl felt she would be safer.

But, while there, he stroked her hand, back and ears.

PERSONAL QUESTIONS

He continued to ask her personal questions and then placed her thumb in his mouth and sucked on it.

Shocked, the girl left, claiming she had to take a bus to the Boon Keng area to run errands.

He followed her again to the bus stop, holding her hand.

He hugged her when the bus came but did not follow her.

Deputy public prosecutor Tan Zhi Hao asked for a global sentence of seven weeks given the deliberate and sustained nature of the act. "This was a case of a 65-year-old man who accosted a girl on the bus," he said. "His conduct grew more egregious over time."

Gan's lawyer, Mr Ong Pang Meng, said the prosecution's sentencing position was fair.

The man was convicted on a charge of insulting the modesty of a woman and two charges of using criminal force with intent to outrage modesty.

Another charge of using criminal force with intent to outrage her modesty was taken into consideration during sentencing.

District judge Hamidah Ibrahim felt the jail term sought by the DPP veered on the side of leniency, but agreed.

For insulting the girl's modesty, Gan could have been jailed up to a year, or fined, or both.

For using criminal force with intent to outrage her modesty, he could have been jailed up to two years, or fined, or both.

This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.