Woman says student tried to grope her on SMU campus

A woman who accused a Singapore Management University (SMU) student of molesting her on campus said she had pushed him away and dodged his attempts to kiss her earlier.

When he also allegedly groped her, she prised his fingers off.

But she did not leave because there was no transport that early in the morning and she did not want to make things awkward between them as they had mutual friends.

The SMU student, Lee Yan Ru, now 24, is facing one molestation charge.

In the early hours of Jan 8 last year, he is said to have stimulated himself while he was on top of the woman, who was asleep.

The woman, who was 21 then, took the stand after lunch yesterday, on the first day of Lee's trial.

She testified that she got to know him around December 2018 when he messaged her on Instagram.

The woman, who studies in another university, cannot be named owing to a gag order.

She said she had told Lee that she had a boyfriend.

She then described what happened that night, saying her boyfriend did not know that she was meeting Lee.

They had met up at SMU's School of Economics and Social Sciences at around 1am on Jan 8 last year to study.

In a study room, Lee was sitting near her at a table when he placed his foot on her left thigh, the court heard.

"It was weird and awkward... I grabbed his foot and moved it away so that it fell to the floor," she said.

But Lee repeated the same act a few more times, she added.

She then took her laptop and rested on the floor to watch a movie on Netflix, and Lee joined her.

The woman told District Judge Sharmila Sripathy that Lee later said that the lights were "really bright" and suggested that they go under a table.

At around 2am, while they were under the table, Lee "tickled" her armpit and she used her hand to block him.

The woman said Lee then groped her body after the movie ended at around 4am and she had to prise his fingers off.

When Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Chong asked her why she did not leave, she replied: "It was the middle of the night. There was no mode of transportation.

"I did not want to leave a bad impression or make him feel bad. I didn't want to make things hostile.

"If it's someone I didn't know, I would have got up and just left... I just didn't have it in me to just walk off."

To "break the tension", she suggested going for a smoke break at around 4.45am.

The court heard that they then returned to the study room. The woman said she was sitting on a table when Lee tried to push her down. She testified that he tried to kiss her three times but she dodged him each time.

The trial resumes today.