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‘Spirit Medium’ Accused of Molesting Devotees & Assistants in his Bukit Panjang Flat

2022-11-14 , 5:25 pm

Religious figures are known to be messengers of higher beings, providing us with comfort, assurance, and direction. It is common for them to talk to you, guide you, and instruct you. Something less common is for them to molest you.

However, as the saying goes, anything is possible.

In Bukit Panjang, a female assistant of a spirit medium has accused him of molestation and filed a police report against him.

They Were Once Close

Ms Lee, the accuser, made acquaintance with the spirit medium in 2021 when there were problems in her family. Weekly, she made trips to his shrine, which was also his house, in Bukit Panjang.

According to Shin Min Daily News, as their relationship became more close-knit, she was invited in August by the spirit medium to be an assistant at his shrine.

Up till this point, everything seems normal, but things are about to take a darker turn.

The Accusations

As an assistant, she developed a suspicion of the man in various aspects.

On the professional front, he had used the same charms in rituals for different deities. Also, he repeatedly asked if she’d won the lottery, even on occasions where he was manifesting as a deity. Lastly, when he was Ji Gong, he had asked devotees to buy him crab to eat, as well as cigarettes and alcohol as signs of their appreciation for his work.

Lotteries? Cigarettes? Alcohol? What the heck?

That’s not all.

On the personal facet, Ms Lee uncovered that the spirit medium would often give female devotees and helpers massages. Said massages involved the removal of clothes and skin-to-skin contact with the spirit medium.

Once, when he was supposedly possessed and manifesting as a deity, he massaged a devotee, but later discussed with the devotee about a tattoo that she had on her back after he was back to himself.

“How would he have seen the tattoo when he was supposed to be possessed at the time?” Ms Lee suspected.

Up till this point, there had been much already laid on the camel’s back.

The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back

Ms Lee made the police report after she had found herself a “victim” of the spirit medium’s work.

When she confessed to him that she had back problems, he advanced and insisted on giving her a back rub. While he was massaging, he allegedly went further down her body, almost nearing her bum.

Enraged, she immediately told him to stop and in October, she left the shrine.

According to Ms Lee, the police report was made to uncover the truth and stop him from exploiting others under the name of religion.

Police investigations are ongoing.

In Singapore, penalties for outrage of modesty include a maximum of three years imprisonment, a fine, caning, or any combination of such punishments.

In cases of aggravated outrage of modesty, one can be sentenced to two to ten years in prison, and caning.

Defence and Denial

The 51-year-old spirit Medium, Mr Zhang, has denied all allegations.

For every variant of accusation, he has shielded himself with the claim of working under the rule of the religion. He has also claimed that Ms Lee and himself had pre-existing animosity and thus she was doing this out of spite.

Have you ever heard of a saying that goes something like, “Leave it to God’s work”?

God works many wonders, let’s just hope molestation isn’t one of them.