SINGAPORE — A 34-year-old Indian national, working as a staff nurse at Raffles Hospital, has been sentenced to one year and two months in jail and two strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to molesting a male visitor under the guise of “disinfecting” him.
According to The Straits Times, the offender, Elipe Siva Nagu, committed the act in June 2025 and was suspended from duty immediately after the incident came to light.
Court documents revealed that the victim had gone to the hospital’s North Bridge Road branch on June 18 to visit his grandfather. Around 7:30 p.m., while the victim was using a patient’s toilet, Elipe allegedly peeked inside and approached him. On the pretext of “disinfecting” him, Elipe applied soap to his hand and molested the victim, Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Phua told the court.
The victim, described as being in shock, did not resist initially and later returned to his grandfather’s bedside. The incident was reported three days later, on June 21, and Elipe was arrested two days after that.
The court heard that the ordeal caused the victim psychological distress and recurring flashbacks of the incident.
Delivering the sentence on Friday, the judge imposed 14 months in prison and two strokes of the cane, underscoring the seriousness of the breach of trust and professional misconduct.
The case has drawn widespread condemnation, with Singapore’s medical community emphasizing that such actions gravely undermine public trust in healthcare professionals.