It was reported in the media on Fri (4 Jan) that a foreign PMET from India was jailed by the court for 12 days, after admitting to one count of insulting the modesty of a woman.
The court heard that the Indian national, Sheth Jimit Dhairyakant, was traveling with a woman commuter on the same GrabShare ride to Bedok, just after midnight on 26 Oct 2017.
The woman boarded the GrabShare vehicle first at MBS followed by Dhairyakant, a business development manager, at Cecil Street.
Dhairyakant then sat next to the woman in the rear passenger seat.
Moments later, the woman noticed that Dhairyakant was acting suspiciously. He was seen holding his mobile phone in her direction and whenever she looked at him, he would quickly move it away to his face, as if to type something.
Then, she heard some shuffling noises and saw Dhairyakant unzipping his pants to touch his private parts.
The woman texted the GrabShare driver to inform him about the incident and asked that they be taken to a police station. When he did not acknowledge her message, she spoke up and asked to be dropped off at a location beside a police station, where she immediately made a police report.
During the police investigations, Dhairyakant admitted that the clothing worn by the woman had aroused him, causing him to “fantasize”.
The court sentenced him to jail for 12 days for insulting a woman’s modesty.
It’s not known why the Indian national could get a job as a business development manager in Singapore, since this position can easily be filled by a Singaporean.
Under the MOM’s Fair Consideration Framework, a company wishing to hire a foreign PMET needs to advertise the job on the national Jobs Bank to attempt hiring Singaporeans first before it is allowed to apply a work pass for the foreign PMET.
However, many netizens have criticised that the Jobs Bank is ineffective and useless in helping Singaporeans to get jobs, since many companies have already intended to hire foreigners in any case, despite advertising on Jobs Bank.
