Over 5 months’ jail for silat instructor who kissed 14-year-old female student on forehead, cheek

SINGAPORE – Under the pretext of a traditional greeting called a “salam”, a silat instructor pulled one of his students, a 14-year-old girl, towards him and kissed her forehead on two occasions, as well as on her cheek on a third.

He also sent her sexually charged text messages.

On Sept 22, the 59-year-old man was sentenced to five months and five weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count each of molestation and being involved in sexual communication with a minor.

Two other molestation charges were considered during his sentencing.

The victim cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.

The Straits Times is also not naming the offender as doing so could lead to identifying her.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi told the court that the girl started attending lessons on silat, a type of martial arts, in November 2024 and the offender was her instructor.

At the end of a lesson between November and December 2024, the man asked her to “salam” him.

Court documents stated that to perform the greeting, the teenager held the man’s hand and brought it to her forehead.

As she did so, he used the grasp he had on her hand to pull her towards him.

After that, he hugged the girl and kissed her forehead over her hijab, causing her to feel uncomfortable.

He did the same thing on another occasion between January and February 2025.

Between January and March that year, he struck again, this time kissing her cheek.

The man and the victim also communicated with each other via messaging platform Telegram in February that year. He used the “disappearing messages” function, so that the messages would be deleted after a certain period.

According to court documents, he had asked if the victim wanted to know how men were like, adding: “Don’t worry I’m open-minded.”

The man also told the victim that she could ask about “sex or anything”, and he would try to answer her questions.

Feeling it was improper for a teacher to communicate with her in such a manner, she took screenshots of the messages.

“The victim felt traumatised by the accused’s actions,” said the prosecutor.

The girl’s mother was later looking through her daughter’s phone when she came across the screenshots.

The police were alerted, and the man was arrested in March 2026.

His bail was set at $20,000 on Sept 22, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on Oct 12.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.