Groper loses appeal bid

A MAN in a puffer vest who groped a woman’s vagina for three seconds on a Hobart dancefloor has lost an appeal bid against his conviction.

Just after midnight on a Saturday night in March last year, Sivananthahakumar Jotheeswaran approached his victim from behind and placed his hand between her legs in a cupping motion.

The woman pushed the man back with both hands, pointed her finger to his face, and yelled: “You can’t touch women like that.”

Jotheeswaran moved back into the crowd, but his victim was able to identify his clothing in detail to the bar’s owner and he was escorted from the venue.

The next morning, Jotheeswaran told police with “repeated and emphatic” denials that he hadn’t touched the woman.

But a magistrate noted the woman was “very familiar with clothing” and was able to accurately identify her groper down to his two-tone green and blue T-shirt and puffer vest.

Jotheeswaran was found guilty of indecent assault, but lodged a motion to review with the Supreme Court of Tasmania. Jotheeswaran argued the magistrate failed to give adequate reasons for his decisions or take into account his six denials to police.

He also argued the magistrate made a finding unsupported by evidence that the victim was “clearly a person who is very familiar with clothing”.

But Chief Justice Alan Blow upheld the magistrate’s finding of guilt, adding it was open for him to find the woman was “very observant of people’s clothing” and an “impressive witness”. He said the magistrate had provided “adequate reasons” and did not need to “consider the number and nature of those denials”.