A 24-year-old yoga instructor from India, Rakesh Kumar Prasad, is accused of molesting his student three times during a lesson last year. He faces one charge of outrage of modesty and one count of using criminal force.
The Court heard that on 26 Apr 2015, Rakesh molested his 25-year-old student by cupping and pinching her breast while he was instructing her. He is also accused of trying to squeeze the victim’s breast by slipping his hands into her sports bra. The incident happened at the Real Yoga studio in Tampines Grande. When the woman protested, he smiled and and suggested that her breasts were small. As the victim was leaving the yoga studio, Rakesh also grabbed the back of her neck, the woman told the Court.
According to his profile on Real Yoga’s website (which has since been removed), Rakesh “is trained and certified as Real Yoga teacher at our Kolkata branch before setting foot in Singapore”.
CCTV footages were played in Court. The victim said that she hit her instructor’s hand and told him not to do it when he tried to molest her. He was undeterred and pinched her breast and told her to bend lower. He further threatened to pinch her even harder if she would not listen to him.
Rakesh’s lawyer repeatedly asked the victim why she did not seek help immediately to which the victim replied with tears, that she did not know any studio staff, and added, “I was helpless, what did you expect me to do?”
The Court continues to hear the case on Thursday (22 Sep).