SINGAPORE: An Indian tourist has been jailed for three months in Singapore for molesting a 12-year-old girl at a swimming complex and sending her inappropriate messages on Instagram after accessing her account without consent.
Pramender, 25, who goes by only one name and was a tourist in the country, pleaded guilty on Friday to one charge of attempting to procure the commission of an indecent act by a child and one charge of molesting a child under 14, according to a Channel News Asia (CNA) report.
A third charge of trespassing was taken into account during his sentencing.
Pramender was accused of following the victim to the toilet at the Jalan Besar swimming complex, where she was with her family on 31 March, the CNA report said on Friday.
He also took the girl's phone, accessed her Instagram account, and used it to follow his own account. He later sent 13 inappropriate messages to her on the platform.
The victim became scared upon seeing the messages and reported the incident to the lifeguard on duty.
Her mother later lodged a police complaint, following which Pramender was arrested on 2 April.
During the court hearing on Friday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ashley Chin noted that the victim was young and vulnerable at 12 years old and that there was "some degree of exploitation".
While pronouncing his verdict, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt noted that the situation could have been worse if the victim's cousins had not been there to protect her from Pramender.
Under Singaporean law, the punishment for attempting to procure the commission of an indecent act by a child below 16 years old is a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to 10,000 USD, or both.
For molesting a child under 14 years old, Pramender could have faced a jail term of up to five years, a fine, caning, or any combination of the three.