Singapore – The younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang, has weighed in on the case of a doctor being acquitted of molest.
Mr Lee took to Facebook on Friday (Sept 3) to share a post by former Straits Times editor Bertha Henson who gave her opinions on the case after going through the transcripts.
In her post, the former journalist turned professor noted that the woman who had filed a complaint against Dr Yeo Sow Nam “wasn’t a reliable witness.”
Dr Yeo was acquitted on Aug 16 of outrage of modesty charges when the prosecution withdrew their charges after a four-year ordeal.
Despite the acquittal, the case has been scrutinised by the public, such as Prof Henson.
“The prosecution withdrew charges before the doctor, or his nurses were even called to the stand,” wrote Prof Henson.
The complainant is a medical sales representative who tried to sell a pain relief product to Dr Yeo.
“There’s apparently no truth at all to all these rumours about spurned love etc. or any kind of relationship beyond the professional,” wrote Prof Henson on the matter.
Based on Prof Henson’s observations, the woman “kept flip-flopping” on her account of what happened, such as where the molest occurred.
At first, the woman claimed it happened at a corridor, yet CCTV footage showed nothing.
She then changed it to a consultation room.
“There was also confusion about where exactly she was touched by the doctor,” noted Prof Henson.
She added that the defence tried to show in the line of questioning that the woman “cooked up the molest charges” because she was worried that the doctor would complain about her performance.
It was highlighted that the complainant did not turn up for appointments, failed to bring the right literature for the products, or delivered the wrong amount of medicine.
The woman agreed that the doctor was “angry with her at that time,” said Prof Henson.
“At some points during the trial, she actually admitted to lying about certain things or that she omitted telling some things to her bosses.”
In his response to Prof Henson’s post, Mr Lee wrote, “This is a good write up of the doctor molest case in which the prosecution withdrew charges mid-way through the case.”
Members from the online community commented on Mr Lee’s post and also found the turn of events “unbelievable.”
“Really unbelievable that the prosecutors can actually work on such flimsy, non-credible evidence and testimony. And it took four years to realise the woman lied! Waste our taxpayers’ money. It’s like Parti Liyani all over again,” said Facebook user Kelvin Lee.
Others noted that Dr Yeo should countersue. “Can’t the doctor sue the woman for false accusation? It’s really damaging (to) the doctor’s reputation,” wrote Facebook user Kim Hunter./TISG
Read related: Bertha Henson weighs in on case of doctor acquitted of molest: Complainant was not a reliable witness