On March 1, 2016, Minister for Home Affairs, K. Shanmugam, addressed Parliament regarding the case of a 14-year-old teenager who killed himself after he was called up by police to assist with investigations in a molest case.

Shanmugam revealed, after consulting with the Attorney General's Chambers, some facts of the pending case that led to Benjamin Lim being called up by the police while he was in school.

This was what happened according to closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage obtained by the police:

On Jan. 25, 2016, an 11-year-old girl said that she was molested in a lift in a block of flats in Yishun. In a police report she made, she added that a boy touched a part of her body.

The police then retrieved relevant CCTV footage, amongst other things.

Followed girl into lift

It showed a boy in school uniform, the suspect. He was later identified to be from North View Secondary School.

From the footage retrieved, it appeared that the boy made a detour while he was going home from school.

The CCTV footage showed the boy making his way to another block of flats in the neighbourhood.

While on this detour to the other block, he was seen quickly following the girl. He went into a lift with her, at the ground floor of her block.

After she entered it, there was CCTV footage from within the lift, showing what happened.

The two appeared not to have met before.

When inside the lift, he allegedly molested the girl in the lift.

He stepped out of the lift at the 13th floor.

The girl says that there was a brief exchange between them when he stepped out of the lift. But she did not follow him down the stairs.

CCTV footage shows that he then got into the lift at the 12th floor and went back down to the ground floor.

It would appear that his purpose in getting into the lift, was to follow her, and after the incident took place, he got out.

Touched a part of her body

The girl then spoke to her father about what had happened. The family filed a police report on the same day — Jan. 25, where she said the boy she had never met before touched a part of her body.

Based on the suspect's school uniform, police identified that the boy was from Northview Secondary School. It was only when they arrived at the school on Jan. 26 and spoke with the school's staff that the suspect was identified as Lim.

Benjamin then admitted to the police that he touched a part of the girl’s body, and that he did so intentionally.

Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam, in recounting all of these details, also said the footage taken from the lift has not been released out of respect for Benjamin's family and to protect the privacy of the girl who made the police report.

Related articles:

Home Affairs Minister gives MHA’s side of the story in the Benjamin Lim case

14-year-old Benjamin Lim’s last meal was a cold bun, father reveals in heartbreaking letter to public

S’pore police releases statement, to review allowing adult to be present during young person interview

Photo of random lift via

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