SINGAPORE - A doctor has been acquitted of molesting one of his female patients at a Northeast Medical Group clinic in Jalan Tiga, near Old Airport Road, in 2017.
On Monday (March 8), District Judge Jasvender Kaur acquitted general practitioner Lui Weng Sun, 48, of his molestation charge, stressing that she did not find the patient's evidence to be "unusually convincing".
The doctor had been accused of molesting a woman by touching her left breast.
The Vietnamese woman, who was 24 years old at the time, and her boyfriend cannot be named because of a gag order to protect her identity.
On Monday, Judge Kaur noted that after the purported act of molestation, the boyfriend had called Dr Lui and asked for a face-to-face meeting.
The district judge said that she "failed to see why there was a need to engage" the doctor and found the boyfriend's conduct to be "highly unusual".
Dr Lui is represented by lawyers Shashi Nathan, Jeremy Pereira and Laura Yeo from Withers KhattarWong law firm.
Speaking on the doctor's behalf after hearing the verdict, Mr Nathan told The Straits Times that his client is "happy and relieved" as the case had been "hanging over his head for more than three years".
During the trial, which started in 2019, the doctor testified that he had placed a stethoscope on the woman's body - over her clothes - to examine her on Nov 6, 2017.
He had earlier told Judge Kaur: "There was no reason for me to touch her nipple or see her nipple at all."
According to Dr Lui, he was working at another clinic in Dawson Road, near Alexandra Road, later that day when he received a phone call from the Jalan Tiga clinic.
During this conversation, the boyfriend accused the doctor of carrying out an "improper examination".
Dr Lui, who was then treating patients, told the man he would call him back after 9pm, the court heard.
The doctor testified that during the second telephone call, the boyfriend said he was "okay" with the doctor examining and touching his girlfriend.
However, the man was unhappy that there was no chaperone inside the examination room and wanted a "jiao dai", or an explanation, in Mandarin.
Dr Lui felt that - by uttering those words - the boyfriend had hinted for a compensation. But he also added that the boyfriend did not mention any monetary figure.
The doctor had earlier told the court he would ask for a chaperone or a female assistant to be present only during "intimate" examinations or when the patient needs to undress.
In their submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutors Ng Yiwen, Jane Lim and Tay Jia En had stated that the woman visited the Jalan Tiga clinic on Nov 6, 2017.
The woman had earlier testified that she saw Dr Lui as she had the flu, displaying symptoms including giddiness and nasal congestion.
She later accused Dr Lui of molesting her and her boyfriend then spoke to Dr Lui over the phone.
Offenders convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to two years and fined or caned.
