A Bangladeshi cleaner has been jailed for molesting an Indonesian maid who spurned his advances when he asked her to be his girlfriend.

The 30-year-old woman told Mia Momen that she was married and rejected his attentions but he followed her to a lift near her employer's Woodlands flat and molested her.

The 29-year-old cleaner with Sembawang Town Council was jailed for six months yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of molestation.

The maid cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Adrianni Marhain said Mia and the maid worked in the same neighbourhood. He began noticing her as she walked past.

DPP Siti said Mia "began to take a liking" to the maid and wanted to get into a relationship with her.

The woman told him she was married and that she "had no intention of entering into a relationship with the accused". But Mia continued to harbour hopes of a relationship.

When he saw the woman returning home from a nearby market at around 11am on Oct 28 last year, he followed her into a lift near her employer's flat.

He then touched the woman's hair as the lift was going up and she politely asked him to stop. Mia ignored the request, hugged the maid from behind and molested her.

DPP Siti told District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim that the woman was unable to push him away as she was carrying groceries in both hands.

She eventually squatted down to evade his touch and rushed out once the doors opened.

"The victim was shocked and outraged by the accused's act and reported the incident to her employer, who advised her to lodge a police report," added DPP Siti.

Mia could have been jailed for up to two years and fined or caned for outraging the woman's modesty.