A former yoga instructor at Trust Yoga studio accused of getting handsy with a bunch of students said he would defend himself in court today.
Indian national Rajpal Singh, 32, denied guilt and told the court he would contest 10 charges of outrage of modesty for allegedly sexually assaulting five women by touching their butts and crotches in 2019 and 2020 at the Telok Ayer branch.
The identities of the women, aged 24 to 38, were kept under wraps.
Singh, who attended the hearing remotely, has not contracted any lawyers.
The events were brought to light in August 2020 by a woman who tweeted that she had been assaulted during class by an instructor named Raj in July 2020. She said he “smacked” and “stroked” her butt cheeks and crotch while making adjustments to her position.
She said the school’s CCTV did not capture the incident and claimed that an employee told her it was not the first time the instructor had molested a student.
The studio, which also has another outlet in Tampines, quickly announced it had suspended an instructor, though it did not identify Singh by name.
“It took such a long time to get here. But finally,” his original accuser wrote publicly in response yesterday. “I don’t think I’ll ever love yoga the same way I did, but I’m thankful for what I’ve learnt, and I’m so grateful for all of you.”
Singh will return to court Dec. 14.
If found guilty of outrage of modesty under Section 354(1) of the Penal Code, Singh could be jailed up to two years, fined and caned.
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