Ng Kheng Teck, 43, a father of two, was sentenced to three years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to two of four charges of molesting a domestic worker from Indonesia who was working in his household in January 2011. Ng had also abused his position of trust, said the judge in passing sentence.
As reported in the Straits Times, 12 October 2012, District Judge Siva Shanmugam said the offences were not merely fleeting touches, but were extensive and prolonged. He noted that the victim had protested on both occasions, but this did not deter Ng. “The courts take a serious view of offences that involve domestic helpers. The rationale for this is simply that domestic helpers need additional protection because they belong to a vulnerable category of persons,” he said.
The newspaper reported the details provided by the prosecutor in court:
The maid, now 28, started work on Dec 9, 2010. Ng called her into a bedroom in his Bishan flat on Jan 25 last year.
He made her lie on the bed, removed her clothes and molested her. When she struggled and told him not to touch her, he pinned her down with one hand.
When she tried to shout to alert his blind 78-year-old mother, he covered her mouth.
Six days later, the maid was in the kitchen when Ng hugged her from behind. He said he liked her but she replied: “I do not want.”
Despite her repeating this two more times, he continued to outrage her modesty. He also made her lie on the kitchen floor and molested her.
When she threatened to call the police if he were to repeat such acts, he told her not to, and offered her some money. When he was asleep, she fled and sought the help of a passer-by.
For outrage of modesty, Ng could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, caned or given any combination of these punishments. For aggravated molestation, he could have been jailed for up to 15 years and caned.