A travelling monk, aged 42, was sentenced to five months of jail term after he was found guilty of molesting a 28-year-old woman in Geylang.
The convict, Tamang Dawa pleaded guilty to one charge of molesting the victim on the night of July 11, 2019.
As per the reports the Nepalese monk had six glasses of beer at a coffee shop in Geylang at around 11.30 pm on the day of the incident while the victim, who was selling items at a makeshift table, beckoned to the monk.
When the woman was showing an item to Tamang, suddenly the accused groped her chest with his hand. After removing his hand forcefully, she shouted to seek help. Even though the monk tried to escape from the location, hearing the victim's voice two men chased the accused and finally detained him. Later, following the arrival of the police, he was arrested.
During the court hearing on Tuesday, September 25 Deputy Public Prosecutor Ashraf Hassan told the judge that Tamang had entered Singapore on July 6 as a tourist and wanted to renew the visa for his travel to Taiwan, where he wanted to go for worship.
The accused was represented by lawyers Josephus Tan and Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation and they told the court that their client was very remorseful and rebuked himself for being a disgrace. They also mentioned that Tamang ashamed of himself as he committed the crime near the temple where he is staying in Singapore.
However, it should be mentioned that as per the law, for using criminal force on the female victim intending to outrage her modesty, the monk could have been jailed for up to two years, or fined, or caned, or given any combination of the three.
