Man gets 2 years' jail, 3 strokes of the cane for molesting woman at her block

Chen Bingwei, 28, followed the victim from the lift and through the block as she tried to evade him, before pushing her towards the wall at a staircase landing and molesting her.
PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - A salesman, who was cycling late one evening last December, followed a woman he saw to her Housing Board block and later molested her.

Chen Bingwei, 28, got into lift with the 23-year-old woman, who pressed the third floor button on Dec 29 at 12.05am.

When the lift door opened, he told her the lift had reached her level and pushed her back lightly.

The woman walked out. After walking midway along the corridor, she heard someone calling her "sister" from behind in Mandarin.

She turned and saw Chen walking up to her. He asked if he could use her cellphone but she rejected him, saying the line had no value.

But he persisted. Sensing something was wrong, she decided to walk down the stairs heading to the ground floor.

Chen left his bicycle on the third floor lift lobby and followed the victim.

When she was at the staircase landing between the second and third floor, he pushed her towards the wall. She yelled but he covered her mouth with his hand.

He then told her not to shout and moved his hand into her top and her bra. He then grabbed her breasts.

Chen tried to move his hands into her shorts but could not as it was too tight. He then touched her again.

She struggled and shouted. After some time, Chen stopped what he was doing and told her that he only wanted to use her mobile phone. He then ran up the stairs to retrieve his bicycle, and left.

Shocked, the victim started to cry. Some of the neighbours came out of their flats and the victim called her husband, who took her home and called the police.

Chen was subsequently traced through closed-circuit television police camera footage. Investigations showed that he had been drinking alcohol before the offence was committed.

Chen, who had pleaded guilty to restraining the victim during the molestation, was sentenced to two years' jail and three strokes of the cane on Friday (Oct 21).

He could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned.

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