Man jailed for molesting sister-in-law in hospital bed
First, he preyed on his sister-in-law and molested her as she lay helpless on a hospital bed in 2005.
Her mother told her to keep quiet about the incident so as not to cause trouble for the family.
About five years later, the pervert struck again by molesting the victim's 13-year-old niece.
He was jailed for 24 months in September last year for that offence.
It was only during investigations into the teenager's case did the sister-in-law reveal what had happened to her.
Yesterday, the 67-year-old man, who is still in jail, turned up in court to plead guilty to molesting his 47-year-old sister-in-law.
He was sentenced to another 14 months' jail.
This sentence was ordered by the court to run concurrently with the earlier 24-month jail term.
We are not naming anyone due to a gag order to protect the victims' identities.
Court papers said the man and his wife visited his sister-in-law, who was in hospital for migraine, sometime between November and December 2005.
He insisted on massaging his sister-in-law, who was on the hospital bed and drew the curtains partially around her.
While massaging her body, he put his hands underneath her hospital gown to touch her legs, private parts and breasts.
EMBARRASSED
Even though she felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, she was unable to stop him or call out as she was drowsy and weak from the medication.
He stopped after half-an-hour.
The victim did not tell her sister about what had happened after her mother advised her not to jeopardise family ties by reporting the matter to the police.
The offence came to light only when the police were investigating him for molesting the teenager.
Defence lawyer Sadhana Rai said in mitigation that her client was remorseful and was committed to not massaging women again.
His intention in performing the "cultural" massage was to alleviate the victim's pain, the lawyer said.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng said the man had taken advantage of his sister-in-law when she was in a vulnerable state and had persisted with the massage.
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