A 38-year-old man was jailed for 2 years and 3 months for a violent sexual attack on a woman in August last year. The man, Benjamin Tan Jook Min, will also receive 4 strokes of the cane for molesting the woman.

Tan said he developed an urge to touch the woman’s rear when he saw her crossing the road after he had finished his supper. He tailed the woman, hid behind an advertisement board at a bus stop, and struck when the woman stopped to look for her handphone. The woman was on her way home from work.

Tan slipped on a pair of work gloves which he was carrying in his backpack, charged at the woman from behind and covered her mouth with his hand. He then pulled her to the ground and molested her.

He only released his grip when the woman hit his face with her bag. Tan then released his grip and ran off to a nearby kopitiam at Chin Swee Rd.

The incident happened at about 2.30am. The woman sustained injuries to her forehead, left shoulder and thigh, and sought treatment at the Singapore General Hospital. She informed the police about the attack at 3.05am. The Police arrested Tan 2 days after the report was lodged.

Tan, who also lives at Chin Swee Road, tried to avoid being captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras by taking a longer route home. But CCTV footages from the area where the woman was molested showed him lurking around the area before the attack happened.

Tan could have been jailed up to 10 years and caned for molesting the woman.