Man molested woman in lift by dropping $2 note
He had a self-proclaimed fetish for "oriental women", and for months, would tail Chinese women he found attractive, take the lift with them and try to talk to them.
But senior bio-technician Muhammad Firdaus Mustaffa, 31, always failed in his attempts.
Then in June last year, he stalked a woman for weeks and molested her when he dropped a $2 note on the floor to use as an excuse to chat her up.
Last Wednesday, Firdaus was jailed for six months and two weeks after pleading guilty to outraging the modesty of the woman, whose identity is protected by a gag order.
Another similar charge was taken into consideration.
He first saw the victim while loitering around a block of flats.
He figured out that she lived on the 12th storey as the lift she exited from had descended from that level to the ground floor without stopping.
He returned several days later, waited at the staircase landing between the 11th and 12th storey and took the lift up when he heard movement.
He then took the lift down with the victim, but aborted his plan to speak to her as she went in a different direction when they reached the ground floor.
He hatched the plan to drop money on the floor and repeated this modus operandi over the next few days but never followed through with the scheme.
Finally, on June 17 last year at about 7.15am, Firdaus was alone with the victim in the lift and decided to execute his plan.
He dropped a $2 note on the floor, touched the left side of the woman's chest and asked if the note was hers.
She was initially stunned but turned around to confront Firdaus, who apologised.
He picked up the $2 note and touched the woman again on her left shoulder.
When the lift doors opened, the woman ran out to get help but Firdaus fled when he heard her calling the police.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Siu Ming asked for at least seven months' jail.
Committing molest in a lift was an aggravating factor as the victim could not escape, said the DPP, and she told District Judge A. Sangeetha the woman later developed a phobia of taking the lift alone with strangers.
She said Firdaus showed a lack of remorse as he had fled the scene and fantasised about the offence when he got home.
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