Man jailed 18 days for molesting woman on MRT train

SINGAPORE – An engineer with a doctorate was on Tuesday (Feb 9) sentenced to 18 days’ jail for molesting a 39-year-old woman on an MRT train.

Shen Ruifu, who holds a PhD in geotech, a branch of civil engineering, committed the offence on a south-bound train as it was travelling from Ang Mo Kio to Bishan at around 7.45am on Dec 12, 2018.

The 54-year-old previously worked at the National University of Singapore and had left in 2015.

Defence lawyer Raphael Louis told District Judge Marvin Bay that his client committed the act of molestation at the spur of the moment and the offence did not involve skin-to-skin contact.

The lawyer added that it was Shen’s first brush with the law.

For molestation, he could have been jailed for up to two years and fined or caned.