Indian jailed for molesting woman in S'pore

Claiming to be a fortuneteller, Manjaiah duped a housewife into believing that she was possessed by a demon.

An Indian national, who molested a woman while claiming to be a fortuneteller, has been sentenced to nine months in jail and three strokes of the cane.

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Singarahalli Chinnaswamy Manjaiah, 30, admitted that he duped a housewife, 34, into believing that she was possessed.

In addition to jail and the caning, the court fined Manjaiah 800 Singapore dollars ($500 US) for working as a fortuneteller.

Manjaiah arrived from Bangalore on February 24, the court heard. He stopped the victim on March 2 while she was walking with a friend and informed her that she was possessed by a 'kutty satan', or little demon that would kill her within a month or turn her into a prostitute. He offered to remove it for about 260 Singapore dollars ($165 US).

Two days later he led her to a housing block and began touching her forehead with a lemon and moved it to her chest, the prosecutor said.

He then put his hand under her sari and rubbed the lemon and his fingers over her body for 15 minutes.

The woman and her husband subsequently informed the police and Manjaiah was arrested on March 6.

In pleading for leniency, the Indian man claimed that his father in India was seriously ill.