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Woman fined for insulting neighbour girl molested by her son-in-law

Singapore's State Courts seen on 21 April 2020. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)
Singapore's State Courts seen on 21 April 2020. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — After her son-in-law was convicted of molesting an eight-year-old female neighbour, an elderly woman harassed the girl’s mother by making lewd remarks, suggesting that her daughter knew “to look for men”.

The 76-year-old woman was fined $2,000 on Monday (18 October) after she pleaded guilty to a charge of making the comments in Mandarin and causing distress to the victim.

Son-in-law entered neighbour's house to molest girl

She stayed in a landed property beside the victim's family, whom she had been on good terms with until her son-in-law was convicted in 2018 of entering the neighbour's house to molesting the daughter twice.

On one occasion in 2017, the 47-year-old man had gone over to the girl’s house to fix a water heater. He later showed the girl an obscene photograph and video before molesting her.

A few months later, the man again molested the girl. This time, he lied to his wife that he needed to go to work. He then dropped his wife off at Marina Bay Sands where he worked, but went to the girl’s house and watched pornography with her. He then molested her in her bedroom.

The man was sentenced to four years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane on 12 September 2019.

Hurled insults from side yard

The relationship between the neighbours deteriorated from 2018 due to the court case.

On 24 January this year, at about 7pm, the girl’s mother was doing household chores at the side yard of her home, which faced the neighbour’s side yard. The 76-year-old woman happened to walk past the woman. Upon seeing her, the older woman did a half squat and gestured at her own private parts.

The elderly woman then said in Mandarin, “Only eight years old, watch this kind of film already, so young and know to look for men” and “I see, when your daughter is 14 or 15 years old, will go and find men”.

The mother felt distressed upon hearing the words as they were in reference to her daughter who had been molested.

For making an insulting communication to cause distress, the woman could have been jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $5,000.

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