Ritz masseur jailed for 5 years for indecent assault
(CNS): A hotel masseur was jailed for five years on Monday following his conviction for indecently assaulting a client during a massage at the Ritz-Carlton just over one year ago. Rahul Manhukumar denied the allegation but was convicted in Summary Court. The case was moved to the Grand Court for sentencing because the magistrate considered the offending to be such that it warranted a higher sentence than the lower court could impose.
Manhukumar (28) was accused of touching a client’s naked genitals and pushing his fingers into her vagina during the session in a darkened room while the client was wearing an eye mask. According to the evidence at trial, the woman, who was a regular visitor to the hotel, immediately told the masseur to stop and terminated the massage.
She then reported the incident to the hotel and the police. Beforehand, Manhukumar had tried to apologise and asked that she not make a big deal over what happened, she said.
Manhukumar was arrested and fired. Although he denied the allegations, he was later charged and tried in Summary Court, where he continued to deny the allegation.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had cancelled a return trip to Cayman as a result, and the entire experience had undermined her sense of safety. She said it was very distressing and made her feel vulnerable. She said she felt violated, given the assumed and implied trust in such a situation.
As the judge handed down her sentence on Monday, Manhukumar continued to deny the accusation and pleaded his innocence. He said that during his career as a massage therapist, he had undertaken more than 1,500 massages on different clients, including some 600 while at the Ritz over more than two years and had never experienced a single complaint.
He said he had been brought up to respect women in a loving, happy extended family in India and would never do such a thing. He also said that he was really happy in the job, and he was making enough money to help pay his younger sister’s university fees and medical bills for older family members, which he would never jeopardize. Manhukumar also stressed how significant the job was for him; it was a family legacy as his grandfather and father were in the same profession.
Despite his pleas, the court pressed on with the lengthy sentence and added a sexual harm prevention order, which would only apply if Manhukumar remained in Cayman after his release. However, the court heard that his attorney intended to make an application for him to leave the jurisdiction and return to India to serve the time.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
. . .if he stayed in Cayman after his release. WTF!
An order of immediate deportation should be the wording instead.
Why are judges not insisting that such order be the icing on their sentencing?
No work permit holder who is found guilty of a crime in the Cayman Islands should be allowed to remain in the country.
An immediate deportation order upon release should be set in stone. Change in the Law needed as this is obviously not being done.
So much love for sexual assaulters in this comment section. Why was former chiropractor Jamie Khan jailed and deported? Because he sexually assaulted women that we believed. These people exist.
Doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that only happens once.
I think if you ask around, women will agree that the first time crossing the line to this degree of violation, is definitely plenty, and she did a valuable public service in reporting the instant that line was crossed.
Your response is speculation based on your arguably biased imagination then you come to an inference from your BS logic.
Your whole argument is garbage.
Utter kangaroo court. Years of reading Cayman news of violent offenses assaults home break ins by Caymanians and fatalities due to gross negligence drunk driving those sentences get a slap on the wrist minimum jail time sometimes only months in jail yet a Jussie Smollett potential like accusation from a Ritz individual to a zero prior complaints veteran massage therapist and give him 5 years in prison. Ridiculous. These judges are almost as worse as Manhattan judges. What a joke and literally destroying this person’s life.
Innocent until proven guilty? I hope there was more “proof” then just this persons accusation.
That’s the problem, isn’t it ? Proving a man put his fingers inside you without your consent. If you read up on “fake rape cries” several studies have found that 2-6% could be proven fake. Basically never happens. What could she have to gain from lying about this?
There are hospital rape kits, so we might assume they can probably also swab for massage oil/masseur DNA in her vagina to prove the assault. We’ll have to assume your gaslighting armchair wasn’t wheeled in for the trail to provide this expert case evidence.
How bout a claim against Ritz for a large sum of money. Easier claim if the person is convicted.
Yet McKeeva Bush can assault a woman and remain in government ??
McKeeva is not an Indian national on a work permit.
Yes, he is a pure bred Caymanian Assaulter. Protected by his fellow Ministers; re-elected by his ignorant constituency, supported by the court system. Three levels of corruption. Welcome to Cayman!
So, McKevva not jailed yet?
everyday we step closer to being a sue happy country like usa.
On the face of it, it seems a very weak cause for a conviction. I want to think that the evidence must have been compelling in court, as the facts outlined here do seem to be very much one person’s words against another.
Sexual assault isn’t weak cause for a conviction. You need to get your head examined.
I’m not saying that. I believe sexual assault to be a serious cause. I’m saying the evidence to convict, based purely on what is written above, doesn’t seem to be very compelling. However, since I wasn’t privy to all the facts as outlined by the prosecution, I’m fine with the outcome.
bullshit! a ghost molested her ..lol
A naked massage??? Why would underwear not be kept on?
It’s up to the client. Qualified RMTs are very much aware of every placement, draping, and movement and no, they don’t go anywhere near downtown. There are no accidents of this kind. She was a regular, but not for that.
If she wanted no contact “downtown” then why wouldn’t it be covered? Nearby “downtown” contact, but not in the “city centre”? These things require definition before the massage begins.
There is a bed sheet covering the parts not receiving work, often a blanket on top of that sheet, sometimes also an electric blanket. It’s supposed to be relaxing and peaceful. It’s never supposed to be a sexual assault venue.
The butt is full of muscles that are an important part of the massage group. These muscles can hold a lot of the tension for the back and legs, can affect the stability of the core on the other side. Anyone who has received a proper family-rated massage would know this.
This seems very harsh and I am somewhat suspicious of these claims. Not a single complaint in 2.5 years from an experienced masseuse. Supporting family back home.
She was in a naked massage and his so his job was to massage her naked body. Very possible he could have inadvertently touched her, or she perceived he touched her, in that region.
What is his possible defense? He maintains he didn’t do it and doesn’t have a known history of this.
A wealthy visitor’s word against an Indian worker.
Five years?
I agree with you. I don’t know about her being a wealthy visitor but I can bet now that he has been found guilty The Ritz Carlton will be paying out some serious money (which may have been the plan all along).
I am not one to victim shame/blame, I myself having suffered from sexual assault, however something just does not seem right with this case.
Putting your finger in a private area was never part of any of my massages.
so you had a no fingering rule?
There are child molestation cases with ‘his word against hers/his’ that never receive guilty verdicts much less a 5 year sentence. What was so different in this case where the only evidence would be her word against his???!!!!
Cayman courts MAKE no sense.
Please see: skin color, tax bracket, etc.
Hmm. I wasn’t there so I don’t know BUT, Ritz Carlton staff know very well the type of clientele they serve….mid-to-high net worth, therefore ENTITLED…in their own minds!
A man who knew the Ritz work ethic so well, knew his clentele, had so much at stake back home in India at stake, would give that all away for a little “feel”? I dunno? Jailed on her say-so? Hmmm?
But then again, I can’t think like a self-entitled rich person or a touchy-feely pervert.
I hope she didn’t railroad the man!
People from India work as massage therapists? Why? I thought they are only employed by the Health City and only as certified medical professionals such as doctors. Nurses and other staff don’t have to be from India, there is no reason for that.
As for your comment, you must be ashamed.
Travelled much?
No, you should be ashamed. I’m surprised I had to post this after 44 downvotes – gutless Caymanians who will not stick their neck out… Pitiful!
…what?
Elsewhere, yes! , but not in Cayman with its never ending “expats have taken our jobs” whining.
Health City was not supposed to be spreading its services from cardiovascular to everything else in the healthcare field.
Indian nationals are slowly but surely have taken a foothold in Cayman. What is good for Indians is not good for Cayman. Cayman has been invaded by the foreigners and doesn’t even know that. The balance has shifted and the risk to its stability and safety has increased. Imagine unrest of any sorts…
I enjoy giving the Eslin technique with minimal draping but I always insist that the client be an experienced recipient of massages. I’ve never given anyone their first massage. As a female I drape another female with at least a washcloth and with a male I drape with a bar towel and I never go under the draping this is how I was taught and I think it’s best practices.
Did you mean ‘Esalen’ technique?
I get what you are saying. The draping defines boundaries. So…. if a client doesn’t want any draping, that absolutely doesn’t invite intimate touching, but it suggests a complete body massage.
Please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m sure we all want to learn.
Just curious. In a case similar to this, is her word against his enough to send someone to jail? If so, this is scary.
Why would she make this up? How many customers consciously abort a Silver Rain Massage and go to the manager and police? #believeher
Why would none of the other 600 people insinuate this. Something doesnt sit right here. just saying.
Who knows? Some people wake up in a wrong mood. Imagine someone somewhere gets rejected, for example, and decides to f up someone’s life, or gets bored in life, or whatever else can visit their mind. I sincerely hope it wasn’t just one word against other. Imagine the precedent it can create.
He needs to serve his time in Cayman then be deported.
Exactly! No guarantee that he will spend one day in jail ever there. I believe he did it. What would the lady gain by making it up. After all his salary would’nt be an enormous amount and it is being sent home anyway. I imagine that having to go through the trial was awful for the lady.
and what would he have gained doing such a thing? funny how the less fortunate is automatically guilty. rich people don’t lie or have mental issues either
How would he possibly remain in Cayman following his release? On what basis has he been here and supporting himself for the last year? Why no deportation order?
If he was from JA, I’m certain he would be found not guilty.