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A woman in Singapore alleged that an old man had molested her at a Sheng Siong supermarket at Bukit Batok West on Apr. 21.

The woman, Siti Mariam, who shared her experience on Facebook, said she was sharing her experience to commend the three supermarket staff for helping to catch the man and to encourage others who have been through something similar to not be afraid to speak up.

Man allegedly "cupped and brushed up" her buttock

Siti told Mothership that she was getting some groceries with her seven-year-old son Hilman at the supermarket near their house at around 4:15pm on Apr. 21.

Her son had run off to the candy aisle, while Siti stood in front of some goods.

"Suddenly, I felt a hand cupped and brushed up my butt. Like an intentional caress that lasted for a good two seconds," she recounted.

Thinking that it was her son, she quickly turned around to reprimand him, but realised it was an old, bald man, who was "grinning back" at her.

Realising that she may have been a victim of molest, she shouted, "What are you doing?".

She said she then "instinctively" brought up her hand to slap him.

She shouted at him again: "You better stay where you are, I'm calling the police!"

Siti said the man looked "shocked" at her reaction, and then tried to get away.

Siti chased after him, while shouting at him to stop.

She also called out to others around her, shouting that she had been molested.

Supermarket staff helped chase after man

Siti then called the police using her mobile phone and caught up with the old man, grabbing him by his collar.

She wrote in her post that everyone in the supermarket fell silent upon hearing her shouts and that nobody came to help.

The old man managed to get away from her grip. Siti then yelled at a staff member at the entrance of the supermarket to try to stop him.

Panicked, the female staff member tried to stop the alleged perpetrator even though, according to Siti, "she didn't know what was going on".

The old man continued his escape to a nearby car park.

Siti remained at the entrance of the supermarket as she was still holding unpaid items, she explained.

At this moment, two Sheng Siong staff members "sprinted" past her, disappeared around the corner and brought back the old man.

The staff then brought the man to an office in the supermarket.

She recalled in her post how angry she was at the old man, and wrote: "You got the wrong person today, Apek."

Thanked staff for helping to catch man

Siti said the old man got arrested, and later found out that he was 66 years old and had no prior criminal records.

"He admitted that he felt like molesting today, and so he did," wrote Siti.

Siti said that CCTV footage "showed his actions very clearly", and also showed that she had tried to strike him.

Siti wrote in her post that she wanted to commend the three Sheng Siong staff at Block 154 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 "who finally realised what was going on and rushed to help" at the last minute.

One of them was named "Ho Ann Onnn", according to Siti.

"Without their help, the Apek would have gotten away with just a literal slap on the wrist by me, and a slightly torn collar (also by me)," she wrote.

She also hoped her story would encourage others who go through the same thing to "not stay quiet" and to make sure that the culprit gets caught.

She reasoned that the "culprit will definitely do it to others too if [they get] away every time".

Siti told Mothership it was not courage that helped her confront the old man, but that it was "just a fear response".

She also urged those who might witness something similar in the future to render help, which was unlike her own experience that day, save for the Sheng Siong staff.

Top photo via Hazren Harun/Google Maps