SMU Student Who is On Trial for Molesting a Woman Said He Thought She Was “Completely Fine” With It


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If you kiss someone and they say “Ew”, it’s safe to assume a few things:

  1. That they did not enjoy the kiss
  2. That the kiss disgusted them
  3. That they may not have wanted to kiss you in the first place

Any rational human would understand that this reaction meant the person you were kissing did not want you to continue.

But one student at the Singapore Management University (SMU) seems to think that it meant the complete opposite.

On Trial For Molestation

Last year, a 24-year-old SMU student went on trial for allegedly molesting another student after she fell asleep in a university study room.

On Monday (5 Apr), the defendant, Lee Yan Ru, took the stand for the first time in his molestation trial.

Speaking about the incident, Lee said he thought his alleged victim was  “completely fine” with his advances.

She, however, had earlier testified that his advances were unwelcome.

And if you go through something like this, it’s hard to disagree with the victim’s statement.

What He Said

On 8 January 2019, Lee invited the victim, who was not from SMU, to an overnight study session at the SMU campus.

Lee said he made several advances throughout the night, and thought she was fine with it.

He poked her abdomen and tickled her, and even though she said she would punch or hit him if he tickled her again, he thought she was just being playful.

At some point, the pair began watching a Netflix movie while lying on the ground, and soon moved under a table as the lights were bright.

After the movie, Lee said he touched her breasts under her top, and said he could recall her giggling.

“I thought we were getting more comfortable and intimate with each other, so I touched her right breast. I thought along the way and till then, she was fine with it,” he said.

Lee also tried to kiss her several times, and after his third attempt, she said “Ew” and wiped her cheek, which he thought meant she was fine with it.

At one point, after falling asleep and waking up to find her next to him, Lee pulled down his shorts and rubbed his genitals across her chest, ejaculating in under 10 seconds.


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“I believe she wanted me to carry on because I felt throughout the night, she was getting more comfortable, more intimate with me. There was this coy behaviour from her.

“I took it that she was fine with my advances, so when she said ‘stop’, I didn’t see it as ‘stop’ and carried on with what I was doing,” he said.

What She Said

The woman, however, presented a very different account of what happened.

When Lee sat on her thighs during the study session, the woman told him to “stop” and “go away”, but Lee didn’t listen.

Then, early in the morning, the alleged victim lay on the ground, covered her face with her hoodie, and fell asleep.


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Later, she felt a weight on her chest, and saw Lee kneeling over her when she pulled back the hoodie.

She sternly told him to move away, but he said, “Wait.”

A few seconds later, the woman felt warmth near her chin, ear, and neck. Lee used some tissue to wipe her face. A DNA report showed that semen was found on the tissue.

“Nothing like this has happened, so I didn’t really know what to think. I was kind of angry… to be disrespected and degraded in this manner,” she told the court.

Repeatedly Apologised to Woman & Pleaded With Her Not to Call Police

After the incident, the woman told Lee that he would hear from her lawyers.

Lee repeatedly apologised and kept pleading with her “not to tell anyone to take action”, the woman said.


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He also asked her not to call the police.

Lee’s trial continues today (6 Apr), with the prosecution cross-examining him.

If convicted of molestation, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or receive any combination of the three penalties.

Feature Image: mentatdgt / Shutterstock.com