Ex-religious teacher jailed for kissing pupil, 8, on lips

An accredited Islamic religious teacher, who conducted Quranic recitation classes at his flat, kissed an eight-year-old pupil on her lips.

The offender, who cannot be named due to a gag order, then told the child not to tell anybody.

The 66-year-old man was sentenced yesterday to six weeks in jail after pleading guilty to committing an indecent act on the girl. A second similar charge involving the same victim was considered during sentencing.

At the time of the offences, he was an accredited religious teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis). It is the national accreditation scheme for Islamic religious teachers in Singapore.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, Muis said the man had been suspended from the scheme since January last year.

Muis also said: "Any criminal act will automatically de-register an individual from the scheme, therefore the individual will no longer be allowed to teach Al-Quran or conduct classes on Islam in Singapore."

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Muhamad Imaduddien said the girl had been attending Quranic recitation classes at the man's flat in the north-eastern part of Singapore twice a week since 2017.

The classes were held in the evening and would last for more than 30 minutes each. She attended them with her younger brother, and the two children would arrive at the flat at around 8pm, accompanied by their Indonesian domestic helper.

Some time in 2018, the girl noticed that when she arrived early with her brother, the man would kiss her on both cheeks after she greeted him with a customary salaam, which is when one kisses another's hand as a sign of respect. This is usually done by a younger person when meeting elders.

The man would also kiss her brother on both cheeks.

But, in January last year, the man kissed her cheeks and lips after she greeted him with a salaam.

The DPP said: "After doing so, the accused told the victim not to tell anybody. The victim noticed that the accused did not do the same - kiss on the lips of her younger brother."

Afraid that "something more may happen to her", the girl later told her mother what had happened. Her father then lodged a police report on Jan 19 last year.

In its statement last year, Muis said it would like to remind the public to be vigilant and to report errant behaviour to the relevant authorities.

The man is now out on bail of $15,000 and will surrender himself at the State Courts tomorrow to begin his jail term.