As a kid, my mum would bring me to the swimming complex near our house for swimming lessons.
Whenever I was about to head to into the showers, my mother would remind me to be careful of any suspicious men inside and to call for help if they were to touch me in any way.
Of course, as a kid, I didn’t really understand.
“Huh? Why they want touch me sia? I’m just a young boy what.”
And then eventually, alas, I grew up. I learned of the sexual crimes and horrors committed by people in the world, and that even children were not spared.
Previously a woman was allegedly molested on RydePOOL, this time it’s in a SwimmingPOOL.
Except this time, it’s not so “alleged”.
And of course, the victim were children.
Six Girls Molested At Hougang Swimming Complex
One fine evening on 12 September 2018, at Hougang Swimming Complex, a 37-year-old Indian national named Job Mathew Panakkal spotted a group of young boys and girls arrive at the pool for their swimming lesson.
Apparently, at that moment, he felt the urge to touch them.
^ Wrong time to follow that advice, bro.
After some of the girls started to swim in his lane, Panakkal started to circle towards them like a lion stalking a gazelle.
As he swam past one of the girls who was 13-years-old, he stretched out his paw and touched her on the thigh.
Another 10-year-old’s thighs and a 12-year-old’s buttocks also fell prey to his actions.
Even as some of the girls tried to swim away, he would catch up to them and continued his actions.
That evening, a total of 6 girls were made his victims.
Arrested And Sentenced
Well, the girls were apparently well-taught by their parents, as they felt violated and immediately went to inform their swimming instructor.
The following day, the social worker for one of the girls also made a police report against Panakkal.
He was eventually arrested on 24 September.
While the prosecutor tried to argue that Panakkal formed his intention beforehand and exploited the close proximity, his defence lawyer also argued that this was a one-off incident outside of his usual character and that he was deeply remorseful.
The judge then said that public pools should be able to be used without intrusion from other parties, and eventually sentenced him to 20 weeks in jail yesterday (3 July 2019).
Well, I guess he didn’t listen to MC Hammer.
If it was a sexy woman in a bikini, not that it’s okay in any way too, but at least I’d understand. But children? Come on, man.
It was also said that Panakkal was active in community and church activities involving children without issues.
So who knows?
One thing’s for sure, I’m definitely repeating my mum’s advice to my children in the future.
And also, my dear readers, learn how to swim. It might come in handy when a guy is swimming towards you, wanting to touch you.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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