Man, 26, climbs into neighbour's S'pore home & molests her while she's asleep, gets 7 months' jail

At around 4:50am on Sep. 22, 2024, a 26-year-old Indian national in Singapore entered his next-door neighbour's flat after climbing over the kitchen balcony connecting their units.

Upon his arrival, the man, Erakkodan Abinraj, wandered around the flat before opening the door to the master bedroom, where his female neighbour, then 36, was sleeping with her husband.

While standing beside the bed to the woman's right, Erakkodan touched her underwear and pulled it downwards, causing the woman to wake up.

After noticing Erakkodan beside her, the woman screamed and sat up, and her husband, who also woke up, instructed Erakkodan to leave their bedroom and sit in the living room.

Although Erakkodan complied, he urinated in fear while walking out of the bedroom and pleaded with the couple not to call the police.

Nevertheless, the woman alerted the police.

Erakkodan was sentenced to seven months' jail on Mar. 5, 2025.

Accused knew victim before offence

According to court documents seen by Mothership, prior to his offence, Erakkodan and the victim had been neighbours for around a year.

While Erakkodan lives with five other employees from his company in his unit, the victim resides with her husband and their daughter.

Erakkodan also knew that the victim resided in the unit next door, as he had bumped into her a few times.

Switched on phone torchlight to navigate in dark

On the day before the incident, the victim went to sleep in the master bedroom at around 11pm on Sep. 21, 2024.

Her husband followed suit shortly after and closed the door.

Their daughter slept in a separate bedroom.

Around five hours later, Erakkodan entered their unit and switched on the torchlight function on his phone so that he could navigate in the dark.

He then wandered around the kitchen and living room before taking a look at the victim's family photos.

Victim thought it was her husband touching her

Upon entering the master bedroom, Erakkodan continued relying on his phone torchlight to navigate the dark.

He then noticed the victim, who was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and underwear, sleeping on the bed with her husband sleeping to her left.

The victim woke up as she felt someone was touching her.

At first, she turned to her left to look at her husband but noticed he was still sleeping.

The victim then turned to her right and saw Erakkodan holding up his phone with the torchlight on.

Accused lied to police at first

After the victim alerted the police, Erakkodan admitted to the couple that he entered their unit through the kitchen and waited there until police officers arrived.

During investigations, he also admitted that he had criminally trespassed into the victim's unit.

However, Erakkodan initially lied to the police that the victim woke up because he dropped his handphone onto her and denied touching her or pulling her underwear.

Pleaded guilty

On Mar. 5, 2025, Erakkodan was sentenced to seven months in jail after pleading guilty to one charge of molestation, reported CNA.

Another count of housebreaking was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

In the prosecution's submissions on sentence, it was highlighted that Erakkodan "invaded the sanctity of the home" and violated the victim during a "vulnerable" state, as she was asleep.

"The accused caused further inconvenience to the victim and her family by urinating in her room," added the prosecution.

Top image via Canva; photo for illustration purposes only