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Man who threw spit at random women for over a year jailed

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(PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — A woman was walking towards a lift lobby of a block at Yishun when she felt a warm liquid hitting her back.

She turned around to see a man fleeing. She later found out that the liquid that hit her back was Alias Talib's spit, which he had spat into his hand and thrown at her.

Alias, 56, was sentenced to three weeks' jail on Thursday (15 April), after he pleaded guilty to using criminal force on the woman on 9 February last year. One charge of throwing spittle at another woman a week earlier, also in a void deck at Yishun, was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The victim, 31, was at a block along Yishun Street 81 and heading for the lift lobby when the incident happened. She lodged a police report stating that she felt an "unknown warm liquid on her back".

Alias was tracked down using footage from police cameras.

Investigations revealed that Alias had seen the victim from afar and decided to follow her. He then spat into his hand and threw the spittle at her back.

Alias had a habit of targeting women who were alone to throw spittle at them. If the woman noticed him following her, he would abort his attempt. If she was oblivious to him however, he would throw his saliva at her.

He had been targeting numerous women for over a year before he was caught. Fortunately, his spit did not always land on his unwitting targets, said the prosecution.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Samyata Ravindran sought at least four weeks' jail, saying that at the time of the offences, COVID-19 cases were on the rise in Singapore, and several clusters had formed.

In mitigation, Alias, who was unrepresented, said that he would lose his job if he was sentenced to prison, and that he was the sole breadwinner for his family, including a schooling child.

He told the court that his child had just undergone an operation that morning.

District Judge John Ng noted that a jail term was warranted, given the timing of the offence.

For using criminal force, Alias could have been jailed up to three months, or fined up to $1,500, or both.

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