SMU student on trial for molesting woman in university study room
He allegedly performed sex act on 21-year-old while she was asleep in study room
A Singapore Management University student is accused of molesting a woman in a study room at the School of Economics and Social Sciences at about 6.30am in January last year.
Lee Yan Ru, 24, allegedly performed a sex act on the then 21-year-old woman while she was asleep.
After the incident, he wiped the woman's neck, face and hair with tissue paper and discarded them in a plastic bag.
Lee's semen was later found in swabs taken from the tissue paper, and also on her neck and face.
The court heard that the pair met on social media platform Instagram as they shared mutual friends.
The woman, a student at another university, had posted a photograph of herself wearing a pair of sunglasses on Instagram, and he responded by asking if he could buy it from her.
Taking the stand yesterday, the woman, who cannot be named to protect her identity, said they had chatted for two weeks before he invited her for an overnight study session at SMU.
They met at about 1am outside the school, where he took her to a study room on the third storey.
She claimed that he then repeatedly rested his foot on her thigh, and she pushed his foot off as she felt it was unhygienic and weird.
When asked if she said anything, she said: "I am not really verbal when I feel awkward."
She then moved to the floor where she lay on her back and started watching a movie on Netflix.
Lee then joined her on the floor and they watched the movie lying close to each other before they moved to continue watching the movie under the table because he said the light was too glaring.
When the movie ended at about 4am, she claimed Lee tickled her, reached from behind and groped her under her clothes.
She said: "I was quite shaken... I did not know how to react."
To lighten the mood, she then asked Lee to take her somewhere to smoke. She also gave him a "playful kick" along the way to make it more casual.
When asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Chong why she did not leave, she said it was late at night and there was no transport available.
She also did not want to leave a bad impression or make things hostile.
After the smoke break, the pair returned to the study room where she claimed Lee tried to kiss her, but she dodged his advances.
She said he also tried to push her down on the table but she resisted.
She testified that she felt something "warm" on her thigh and suspected Lee had placed his private parts against her, but she did not look down as she did not want to see it.
The trial is set to continue today.
Lee is represented by lawyers Mr Thong Chee Kun, Ms Josephine Chee and Mr Jonathan Oon from Rajah & Tann.
If convicted, Lee can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these penalties.
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