'She was moving very uncomfortably': Man witnesses fellow bus passenger molesting schoolgirl
A 57-year-old man was arrested for allegedly molesting a teenager on a bus in Pasir Ris after being seen in the act by a fellow commuter.
Stomp contributor M witnessed the incident that took place onboard bus service 39 on early Thursday morning (Apr 20) and caught the man red-handed.
He recounted: "I got on the bus at bus stop 65271 (opposite Block 188 Punggol Central) at around 6.36am, went to the upper deck of the bus, and sat on the last row's middle seat. There was an empty seat to my left and right."
M said the victim, who looked to be a secondary school student around 13 to 14 years old, was sitting on the last row "on the driver's side".
He added: "At around 6.39am, the culprit got on at bus stop 65261 (Block 649 Punggol Central). He came up to the upper deck as well and decided to squeeze in between the victim and me, even though there were still five to six seats available at the middle to front section of the bus. There was one empty seat to my left too.
"I didn't think much of it until when we reached bus stop 77289 at Pasir Ris West Plaza.
"From the corner of my eye, I saw that the victim was struggling and moving very uncomfortably, I noticed that whenever the victim moved, the culprit moved as well.
"His left hand was over his bag blocking the view, so I decided to lean forward, pretending to adjust my seating posture, and saw the culprit's right leg rubbing the victim's left leg.
"When I caught wind of what's going on, I decided to lean over to see what was happening, and I saw the culprit's hand in between the victim's thighs.
"That was when I called 999 and after ending the call with the police, I pulled the culprit along to find the bus captain.
"The bus driver pulled over at bus stop 77039 at White Sands and waited for the police to arrive. Other passengers had to alight and were transferred to another bus 39 that was arriving.
"There were two students from the same school on the bus that help to phoned their teachers at the school and comfort the victim while I was watching over the culprit."
M had also checked on the victim before involving the police and bus captain.
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He said: "I made sure to check with the victim before calling the police. The victim seemed to be sleepy and tired, so maybe that was why the man decided to molest her. I checked with her multiple times until she gave me the confirmation, then I called the police."
Asked how the man reacted upon being caught, M told Stomp: "He acted shocked and scared while mouthing, 'I didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident. I'm rushing for work. Please don't do this.'
"Police then arrived and I was told to leave the scene after taking down my statement. When I left, the culprit was still being investigated in the bus."
In response to a Stomp query, the police said they were alerted to a case of outrage of modesty along Pasir Ris Drive 1 at 6.56am and arrested a 57-year-old man in relation to the case.
Police investigations are ongoing.
The man will be charged in court on Friday (Apr 21) with outrage of modesty, which carries a jail term of up to three years and/or a fine and/or caning.
This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.
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