Corpun file 2974

The New Paper, Singapore, 1 September 1998

She wanted 20 cents to take bus

He gave her $1 -- after molest

VELU: Asked the little girl to follow him JAILED Velu was sentenced to six months' jail and six strokes of the cane for outrage of modesty on Wednesday. He could have been jailed up to two years and caned or fined.	SHE got more than she asked for. But it was not at all what she expected. How could she, just a six-year-old? She was short of 20 cents for her bus ride home. So, she asked this "uncle" at the bus stop, could he please give her 20 cents? But "uncle" did not give her the money right away. Instead, Velu Silvadorai, 44, asked her to follow him. The unemployed, divorced man led her to a secluded spot, pulled down her panties, and molested her. And then, he gave her a dollar - to stop her crying. The six-year-old and her nine-year-old sister were returning to their Bukit Batok East flat after their tuition class at about 5.30 pm on May 25. They were waiting at a bus stop outside Block 241 in Jurong East Street 24. Velu, who lives at Block 241, was also at the bus stop. Velu took the six-year-old to an unlocked cubicle at the foot of his block where the cleaners kept their brooms. There, closing the door, he molested her. After giving her the $1 coin, he told her to return to the bus stop. At the bus stop, she told her waiting sister about the incident. Then, just like a little girl, the six-year-old said she was hungry and went away to buy some biscuits. But Velu didn't go away. Instead, he returned to the bus stop - and asked the nine-year-old to spread her legs. She ignored him. At this point, the six-year-old returned with the biscuits and the two girls quickly boarded a bus. Velu was arrested the next day after the girls' father made a police report.
The Electric New Paper. Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.

Corpun file 3055

The New Paper, Singapore, 25 September 1998

He took her underwear

GUILTY Wong Churn Hoong (above) pleaded guilty to five charges of molest. Six other similar charges of molest and one of having a stolen bicycle were taken into consideration during sentencing. He was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail, plus nine strokes of the cane.

THE serial mountain-bike molester got so bold once that he attacked a woman and took away her underwear. Wong Churn Hoong had been at it for months. He would ride around on a stolen mountain bike, whizzing off after touching the breasts and buttocks of women on the street. But in the case of this victim, he abandoned his bike. He went after her on foot. And it was her underwear that he wanted. The 42-year-old woman was walking through the void deck of Block 346, Woodlands St 32 on March 29 at midnight when he grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth. He pushed her to the ground and tried to remove her panties. When he failed, he asked her to take off all her underwear, which he wanted to keep. The victim gave him her bra and one of the two pairs of panties she was wearing. Five days later, Wong molested another woman at Woodlands Circle, squeezing her left buttock as he cycled past. The victim called the police, who arrested Wong on Woodlands Ave 7. Wong, 29, who is married with a four-month old son, struck mostly in the Woodlands area and usually between 11 pm and 7 am. His molest spree started on Dec 3 last year, when he cycled by and touched the left breast of a 30 year-old woman on Woodlands Ave 5. Wong, who worked in a printing firm, told police that he molested three to five women in such a manner nearly every night. On at least two occasions, he had pedalled the stolen bike all the way to Choa Chu Kang to satisfy his twisted needs. Wong lived in a five-room flat in Woodlands St 13 with his Chinese national wife, their son, his parents and an elder sister. His sister, Ms Wong Suet Ngoh, 32, a production operator, said her brother had taken up cycling only around that time. But the family never suspected that he was out molesting women. Said a neighbour: "He came across as very odd, like he is keeping a lot of things to himself. But I must say he looked quite handsome. Even my maid said so." She added that there was always a bicycle parked outside Wong's flat but she had never seen him riding it.

Straits Times, Singapore, 26 September 1998

Illegals robbed and hurt cabby

TWO foreigners who robbed a cabby at knifepoint were each sentenced yesterday to five years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for armed robbery.

Sri Lankans Chamila Saman Niroshana Fanando, 25, and Perera Shiran Enoka, 22, were also each given a month's jail and six strokes of the cane for illegal entry. They pleaded guilty. The sentences are consecutive.

The court heard that they stopped Mr Ow Kum Seng's NTUC cab on Sept 4 and directed him to go to Block 513, Jelapang Road, in Bukit Panjang. When they arrived, Chamila grabbed hold of Mr Ow and placed a knife at his neck.

Mr Ow, 51, struggled and was injured on the neck. He needed six stitches for it.

After they had robbed him of his waist pouch containing $87.40, a mobile phone worth $150 and a pager worth $50, Mr Ow shouted for help.

A few members of the public heard him and detained the culprits.

Although both men claimed they had entered the country legally in April and August, their embarkation cards could not be traced. They were thus presumed to have entered illegally.

Straits Times, Singapore, 29 September 1998

Snatch thieves face tougher punishment

They face longer jail terms and caning under new guidelines that were set by Senior District Judge R. Magnus, to stem the increase in this crime

By Elena Chong

The courts will mete out more severe sentences on snatch thieves from now, Senior District Judge Richard Magnus said yesterday as he set new sentencing guidelines for this crime.

The tougher punishments are to stem the rise in this crime, many cases of which are committed by foreigners.

This rising trend is likely to continue in the light of the economic downturn, said the judge when he sentenced an illegal immigrant to four years' jail and three strokes of the cane for snatching $7,000 from an accountant at a void deck.

He said that snatch thieves will be jailed for two to five years, plus receive caning, if they are armed or if they hurt their victim.

"It is undoubtedly the duty of the court to enable people to walk in the streets in Singapore and its public places, safe from these opportunistic predators," he said.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor May Lucia Mesenas had pressed for a deterrent sentence for Indian illegal immigrant Palani Kumar, 20, saying that his offences were serious and the public deserved to be protected from the likes of him.

Palani was jailed a total of four years and eight months and ordered to be given 12 strokes of the cane for snatching the payroll bag and other offences.

In setting the guidelines, Judge Magnus noted that there were 241 snatch thefts in the first half of this year, a 52.3 per cent increase over the 158 cases in the same period last year. Similarly, the number of foreigners arrested for seizable offences in the first quarter of this year had risen by 33 per cent -- from 391 arrests in the last quarter of last year to 520 in the first quarter of this year. Palani had snatched a clutch bag containing $7,000 from accountant Low Chee Wah in Aljunied Avenue 1 on July 20. The DPP said that he had been told by his cousin, who is at large, that Mr Low, 58, would withdraw money from Overseas Union Bank in Geylang East Central every 5th and 20th of the month.

On July 20, the cousin gave him a knife as well as told him how to escape -- by running towards the bridge at Geylang East Central.

That day, Mr Low was walking back from the bank to his office when Palani snatched the bag from under his arm.

His shouts of "robbery, robbery" in Hokkien were heard by Mr Ghwee Kok Seng, 39, who gave chase.

Motorist Andrew Lee, 30, a senior engineer, joined the chase and detained Palani along Geylang East Central.

Defence counsel Suzanne Tan said in mitigation that 12 the man had been made a scapegoat by his cousin and two friends who had masterminded the snatch theft.

For illegal entry, he was sentenced to one month's jail and three strokes of the cane; for having a knife, he got six months' jail and six strokes; and one month's jail for fraudulent possession of someone else's driving licence and work permit.

A fifth charge of snatch theft was considered during sentencing.

Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.