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Very good news below. It's a great story to end 2012.
Cleaner cleared of sex with underage prostitute
Published on Dec 26, 2012 , ST
By Khushwant Singh
A CLEANER broke down in tears after he was acquitted of having sex with an underage prostitute for $10. Bangladeshi national Md Salauddin Md Dudu Mia, 29, who did not have a lawyer, also thanked the judge repeatedly for believing in him.
In arriving at the verdict, District Judge Low Wee Ping noted that the charge did not specify the exact date, time or place of the offence although these were required by the Criminal Procedure Code.
The judge said: "What was significantly worrying was that the initial charge stated that the offence was committed in January last year on a staircase landing of Block 605 in Hougang but when the trial started on Dec 19 this year, the prosecution amended the charge to state that the offence was committed sometime in July this year at the staircase landing of an unknown block in Hougang."
The judge also noted that the statement Mr Md Salauddin gave to police referred only to the alleged offence last year and no further statements had been taken from him regarding the amended charge.
The court also found that the testimony of the victim, now 15 years old, was too vague and was not corroborated by any other witness.
Six of Mr Md Salauddin's colleagues, aged between 23 and 33, have been jailed between 10 and 17 months by a district court last month.
The girl, now 15, is being cared for at the Pertapis Centre for Women and Girls. There is a gag order on her identity.
Judge Low said that Mr Md Salauddin had admitted to the police that he met the girl and her friend in January last year but stated he did not have sex with either of them as he had no money. During the five-day trial, the cleaner also denied having sex with her in July this year. Mr Md Salauddin, who has been in remand since Aug 22, is now a free man.