An Indian-origin yoga instructor in Singapore has been sentenced to 23 months in prison and 4 strokes of the cane for molesting three women while conducting classes with them.
Rajpal Singh, 35, who worked at Trust Yoga in Telok Ayer Street at the time of the offences, no longer conducts lessons there. All three victims were members of the classes when he molested them.
On Friday, before handing down the sentence, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said that Singh had abused the trust placed in him by the three women, whom she referred to as Ms C, Ms V and Ms R, according to a report by The Straits Times newspaper.
The judge said that the trio had suffered emotional and psychological harm.
Ms C had been receiving therapy from a counsellor, said the judge, adding, “[She] testified that she had regarded yoga classes as ‘a safe space’ and had not expected to have been violated during a yoga class by a teacher who was in a position of authority in the room.”
Ms V had testified that she remained “very affected” by her ordeal and described it as a “very traumatic experience”, said the judge.
After a 13-day trial, the judge convicted Singh on May 16 of five molestation charges involving the three women. She had found that the trio were “unusually convincing” witnesses.
Singh was acquitted of three other molestation charges involving a fourth woman, Ms Y.
Singh denied molesting the women. Defence lawyer Anil Murkoth Changaroth said that his client would appeal against his conviction and sentence. His bail was set at SGD 50,000 (USD 38,374.02).
The former yoga teacher still has two pending molestation charges and his pre-trial conference involving them will be held on September 16, according to the Singapore Daily Report.
