2 years' jail, 6 strokes for molesting girl, 14

A former storekeeper was jailed two years and given six strokes of the cane yesterday for molesting and sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl.

Muhamad Ismail Kamarudin, 28, was found guilty by District Judge Jasbendar Kaur of kissing and touching the teenage girl and sexually abusing her at the hilltop of Woodlands Town Park East at Woodlands Street 13 on Jan 11 last year.

He had found the girl and her boyfriend sitting in a room at Woodlands Civic Centre, hugging and kissing each other.

He asked for their identity cards, and told the boyfriend to leave the room.

He then took the girl in a taxi to a secluded park a short distance away and molested her.

Muhamad Ismail claimed the girl had followed him to the park, and that she was the one who had tried to molest him.

He has previous convictions for committing criminal breach of trust, fraudulent possession, gross indecency and robbery.

This article was first published in The New Paper.