Jobless man gets jail, caning for molesting college student

An unemployed man was sentenced to four years jail and five strokes of the cane by the Magistrate's Court for molesting a college student at the Light Rail Transit station (LRT) on Feb 27.

Magistrate Ashraf Rezal Abdul Manan sentenced E Vincent, 39, after he pleaded guilty to molesting the 21-year-old victim with a hug and kiss on her cheek at the Masjid Jamek LRT station, Jalan Tun Perak here, around 9pm.

In addition, the accused who was not represented, was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of failing to show any identification documents when arrested.

The court ordered the punishment for both offences to run concurrently from the date of arrest.

According to the facts of the case, the victim was walking with a friend in front of the station when she was suddenly hugged forcefully from behind by the accused and kissed on her cheek.

The victim who was taken by surprised, however, managed to resist the accused until he fell down and passed out.

During the incident, the victim sensed a strong smell of alcohol from the accused and immediately informed the auxiliary police on duty who managed to detain the accused who was still unconscious.

Prosecuting officer Noor Jazilah Mohd Yushaa asked the court to impose the maximum sentence on the grounds that the accused had five previous criminal records involving theft and attempted robbery.