Many people look to religious figures for comfort and direction, but that may leave them open to abuse.
A female assistant of a spirit medium in Bukit Panjang has accused him of molestation and filed a police report against him.
Source: Ella Sim on Facebook
However, he said the woman had a grudge against him.
The accuser, named only as Ms Lee, got to know the spirit medium last year through her mother’s friend, reported Shin Min Daily News.
The 37-year-old was experiencing family problems at the time, and initially visited him almost every week at his shrine, which was in his residence in Bukit Panjang.
She also invited him to “cleanse” her home and gave him some cash for his efforts, she said.
Eventually, they became closer and closer, and in August, the spirit medium asked her to be an assistant at his shrine.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
It was then that Ms Lee became suspicious of the man, she said.
She’d observed that he used the same charms in rituals for different deities, she told Shin Min.
He also kept asking her if she’d struck the lottery, even when he was manifesting as a deity.
Once, when he was Ji Gong, he asked devotees to buy him crab to eat. He would also ask devotees for cigarettes and booze as a token of appreciation, she claimed.
Source: Ella Sim on Facebook
Worse still, in September Ms Lee said she discovered that the spirit medium would often massage female devotees and helpers.
This involved lifting up their clothes and touching their bare skin, she claimed.
Once, when he was being possessed by a deity, he messaged a devotee, but later discussed with them how the woman had a tattoo on her back when he was back to himself.
“How would he have seen the tattoo when he was supposed to be possessed at the time?” Ms Lee questioned, suspecting him of committing molestation.
Ms Lee herself was also a victim of his advances, she claimed.
As she has persistent problems with his back, the spirit medium insisted on giving her a massage, she said.
During the massage, however, he allegedly went farther and farther down her body, until he was almost touching her bum.
She angrily told him to stop, and in October, said she wanted to leave the shrine.
Accusing him of taking advantage of her, she also made a police report to expose him, hoping that he wouldn’t prey on others.
The police confirmed that a report had been made on this case, and investigations are ongoing.
Another helper, a man named only as Mr Liang, told the paper that the spirit medium has also borrowed large sums of money from his helpers.
The 47-year-old bus driver said the man borrowed money from him seven times in the past year, and it showed that he has financial problems.
Usually, the amount he loaned would be S$100 to S$200, but once he asked for S$1,300, he claimed. Then the next day, he allegedly asked another helper for S$1,400.
Though the spirit medium would return the money, but not at the agreed time, the helper said.
Mr Liang also said that he and five other helpers had confronted the man at his place over the money he owed.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
After an argument ensued, he made a police report.
The spirit medium, on his part, has denied all the allegations.
The 51-year-old, named only as Mr Zhang, told Shin Min that two helpers would be present whenever he’d massaged anyone, and he had no intention of molestation.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Neither has he asked for any money from devotees, he claimed, and any cash collected was offered by them as a gesture of appreciation.
Furthermore, it wasn’t him who wanted the crab, he maintained, but the deity Ji Gong.
On why he’d noticed the woman’s tattoo, he explained that he’s always only 70% possessed, not 100%.
Though Mr Zhang admitted borrowing money, he said that he’d always pay back in full.
As for Ms Lee, he added that she harboured a grudge against him, and was spreading rumours.
However, he declined to elaborate on what had transpired between them.
He also said he’s considering making a police report himself.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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