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A 27 year-old private student Verma Gaurav forcefully restrained a 26 year-old maid at a Housing & Development Board (HDB) block on 24 February 2017 and molested her the next day.
He was jailed 3 years and given 4 strokes of the cane for his crime of outraging the modesty and wrongful restraint.
According to court documents, Verma and the victim did not know each other and were not romantically involved.
Verma had arrived in Singapore in mid-2016 on a student pass to study at the STEI institute.
In the evening of 24 February, the victim was at the void deck at McNair Road when Verma approached her from behind and spoke to her. The maid ignored Verma and fled to the lift, but Verma followed her and tried to forcefully kiss her.
She avoided him, but he pressed his left arm around her neck and put his left cheek against hers while trying to take photographs with her using his mobile phone. Verma then forced a kiss on the maid’s lips for about 6 seconds before grabbing her neck and forcefully pulling her body close to his.
When the lift doors opened, he did not allow her to leave and allowed the door to close before grabbing her neck again and forcing her close to him, kissing her for about 3 seconds. He then tried to take more photographs of them together before forcing 2 more kisses on her.
When the door opened again, the victim tried to escape but he pulled her back and kissed her again, holding tightly onto her hand.
The victim only managed to escape after she was forced to key in her handphone number on his phone, after which he kissed her 2 more times before she broke free and ran away.
The next day, the victim was walking along Towner Road when Verma approached her and told her that he wanted to kiss her. She ignored him again but he grabbed her neck and kissed her on the lips.
She pushed him away and told him she would tell her employer about this.
Verma was arrested on 2 March a day after she lodged a police report.
He could have been jailed for up to 10 years for wrongful restraint, and 2 years jail or a fine and caning for outrage of modesty.
