A Yoga instructor in Singapore who is currently serving nine months in jail for molesting his student during class has appealed against his conviction in the High Court. As the convict is trying to lessen his punishment, the prosecution is apparently trying to push for a higher sentence.
It should be noted that the convict Rakesh Kumar Prasad, aged 26 was sentenced to nine months in jail and fined S$1000 in this April. After the hearing, the district judge found that Rakesh Kumar has molested one of his students during a class at the Real Yoga studio in Tampines between 12.40pm and 1.15pm on April 26, 2015.
During the appeal hearing at the Apex Court on October 01, defense lawyer Steven Lam informed the court that there are reasonable doubts that Rakesh had molested his student. Steven Lam argued that there are many loopholes in the victim's statement, and he added that no CCTV recordings clearly show Rakesh groping the woman who was 25-years-old at that time.
Lam also revealed that Rakesh Kumar who is an Indian was well aware of CCTV installed in the studio. The lawyer argued that his client would never take a chance to commit a crime which will make him lose his job.
"The question is why would Rakesh Kumar want to do something so silly, bearing in mind that he is here on an employment pass?" said Lam.
The defense lawyer also argued that the woman filed a complaint only after coming to know that she will not receive a refund.
However, James Chew, the Deputy Public Prosecutor strongly disputed these claims made by the defense lawyer. Chew called the allegations completely baseless and informed the court that the defense is trying to insult the victim. The prosecutor also requested the court to increase the jail term of Rakesh to twelve months.
