Earlier this year, millions of horrified people around the world watched a clip of an elderly Singaporean man violently accosting a young American expat during a ride on the MRT.
This morning, 71-year-old Gan Thian Soo faced the music in court, receiving three charges of assault, harassment and causing public nuisance for hitting and verbally abusing the victim on Apr 19, Channel NewsAsia reported.
Joseph Flynn De Marini, 25, had been mistaken as a homosexual (not that sexual orientation matters in sexual assault), and the old man repeatedly demanded that they have sex. “I know you’re gay, so let’s fuck,” Gan yelled, according to De Marini’s written account of the incident.
At one point, the Singaporean even slapped De Marini, and the situation would have escalated even further if not for the intervention of fellow commuters.
The shocking episode was filmed and uploaded on Facebook by De Marini — a clip that now has over 1.5 million views.
Not long after De Marini lodged a report, police apprehended Gan along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 on the night of Apr 21. In court today, the judge granted the prosecution’s request to allow Gan to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for two weeks for a psychiatric evaluation.
The man will return to court on Dec 1. It’ll be a fine of up to $1,000 for Gan should he be convicted of being a public nuisance, with a possible $5,000 fine and/or two years in jail for voluntarily causing hurt. For intentional harassment, he could be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $5,000.
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