After drinking more than eight glasses of alcohol, a man in Singapore squeezed a woman's breast under her dress in Zouk, a nightclub located in Clarke Quay.
The victim immediately grabbed the man by the collar, who covered his face, ran back to a sofa and sat down.
Ong Jun Yong was eventually arrested and charged in court with molestation but denied his offence as he claimed he had an "alcoholic blackout".
Slipped his hand into woman's dress
According to a judgement dated Jan. 22, 2024, Ong claimed trial to a charge of outrage of modesty.
Court proceedings revealed that Ong and the victim did not know each other before the night of Nov. 23, 2019.
They were drinking with their separate group of friends in Zouk and seated at adjacent tables.
The victim testified in the trial that at around 2:30am, she was standing at a passageway near her table and another table when she felt someone walk past her and slip his hand into her sleeveless V-neck tank top dress to squeeze her left breast.
Shocked, the victim turned around and saw Ong, who covered his face and ran off to sit on a sofa at his table.
Confronted Ong and police were called
The victim immediately told her friend she was molested, and they confronted Ong.
During the confrontation, her friend slapped Ong, and his friends intervened.
Zouk's bouncers arrived and brought the victim, her friend, and Ong to a waiting room.
The police were called.
Ong does not remember the incident
During the trial, Ong claimed that he did not remember the incident and that his "last memory" was of him sitting on the sofa, talking and playing drinking games.
He also claimed to have a “flash memory” of him lying on the floor, vomiting and being in handcuffs.
Ong said he believed himself to have a "blackout" due to "excessive alcohol consumption".
During his testimony, he claimed that he had consumed more than eight to ten glasses of alcohol in total at the club and at an earlier company dinner-and-dance that night.
When cross-examined by the prosecution, he changed the number to 15.
He also claimed to have previous experiences of "alcoholic blackout" when he had more than 10 glasses of alcohol on at least three other occasions.
Two persons witnessed the incident
Despite Ong claiming he did not remember anything, his defence lawyers disputed the victim's account, stating that she either "mistakenly" thought she was molested or that she "mistakenly" identified Ong as the perpetrator.
However, the judge dismissed the lawyers' arguments, stating that he not only find the victim's evidence "unusually convincing", two other witnesses saw her get molested.
On whether the Ong is indeed the perpetrator, the judge thought it was "inconceivable" that it was anyone else.
The judge pointed out a number of evidence leading to the conclusion that the perpetrator was indeed Ong and that there was a lack of evidence showing it was someone else.
Alcohol inhibited his actions: Defence
The judge also did not agree with the defence's argument that the consumption of alcohol had inhibited Ong's action.
He is of the view that Ong "clearly knew" that it was wrong for him to have molested the victim.
Soon after the incident, when the victim had grabbed Ong's collar, he had the presence of mind then to cover his face to avoid being identified and to run back to his sofa to avoid being caught, the judge said.
He also continued to cover his face during the confrontation on his sofa and later when a photo was taken of him while waiting for the police.
His initial denial of having molested the victim showed that he could process the nature of the allegations against him, the judge added.
His eventual apology for his action also showed that he knew that what he had done to the victim was wrong, he said.
Ong was eventually found guilty of one count of outrage of modesty.
The sentence is expected to be announced at a later date.
Anyone found guilty of outrage of modesty can be imprisoned for up to three years, fined, caned, or punished in any combination of the three.
Top photo via Canva