A MILLION-dollar lawsuit between Singapore's Grand Hyatt Hotel and two air stewardesses who were sexually assaulted there has been settled out of court.

The terms of the settlement cannot be disclosed, but court documents filed earlier show that one woman, who was raped, wanted $750,000 in damages.

The other, who was molested, sought $400,000.

Their employer, Indonesia's Garuda Airlines, also demanded $55,000 for damages incurred through the pair's hospital and legal costs and an alleged breach of the agreement to provide air crew accommodation.

The women were attacked on April 8, 2003, by Malaysian Suresh Nair Vellayutham, who followed them up to their hotel room from the Hyatt lobby.

Suresh Nair, then 28 and unemployed, raped one woman twice. She was then 31 and married. Her colleague, then 30, was repeatedly molested.

Suresh Nair was jailed for 26 years and caned the maximum 24 strokes.

If the lawsuit had gone to court, the level of security provided by the five-star hotel in Scotts Road would have come under scrutiny.

Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.

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