Indian national jailed 4 months for molest on MRT train

By Andrew Loh Indian national, Jayaraman Kannan, was today sentenced to a 4-month jail sentence by the courts for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a girl on a MRT train at about 9am on Aug 18 last year. 34-year-old Jayaraman, who is a bio-technologist working in Singapore, pleaded guilty to pressing his exposed private parts against a 19-year-old girl while in the train which was travelling from Choa Chu Kang to Bukit Gombak. He quickly zipped up his pants when the girl turned around. She reportedly gave him a slap and later informed SMRT staff when she reached the Bukit Gombak MRT station. The Police were called and Jayaraman was arrested. In his plea, Jayaraman’s counsel said his client had “acted totally out of character.” Molest cases on the MRT train is an issue of increasing concern, given the packed trains especially at peak hour. This video below has been circulating on social media the last week or so. It shows a man standing very close to a woman, even though there is space in other parts of the train. He was apparently using his lower body to come into contact with her.

The woman eventually moved away from the man. It is unclear if a police report has been made against him. In Jan, a man was reported to have used his hand to repeatedly touch the buttocks of a woman on the train, and in August last year, a 17-year old was arrested for molest, also on the train. But these are not the only cases in recent times. The offence of outrage of modesty carries a jail term of up to two years, fine and caning upon conviction. Ho Anqi, a member of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), had raised the issue with SMRT. The transport company replied with advice on what commuters should do in the event of such incidents. Commuters should:

1. Press the Emergency Communication Button (ECB) located at the side of the train door to speak to the train officer.
2. Share that you were harassed and indicate the carriage number. The carriage number is 4-digit (for example “2322”), and is displayed at the joining part of each car, above the two seater.

The train officer will not open the train doors until the station staff arrives. They will be able to identify your carriage because the carriage number is also display on the exterior of train car, at the lower part of the train body. You will have to beckon to the station staff and let them know who the culprit is. The station staff will advise the culprit to alight from the train for further investigation. You can request for the Transcoms Police officers to be activated.