A 46-year-old man in Singapore was sentenced to 2 weeks imprisonment on Monday (3 July) after being convicted of taking an upskirt video of a female colleague at a food court, according to a report by The Straits Times.
During an incident in April 2021, a man who had been colleagues with a woman for a decade, violated her trust by secretly recording upskirt videos while they were having coffee at a food court.
The man cannot be named because of a court order protecting the identity of the victim.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Foo Shi Hao, the victim and the perpetrator had a longstanding friendship and had previously worked together. The victim considered him a friend and often sought his advice on work-related issues.
What happened?
On April 15, 2021, at approximately 1 pm, the man and the victim decided to have coffee at Food Republic, located in 313@somerset, following their lunch. While engaged in conversation at a table in the food court, the man felt compelled to look at the victim’s thighs and underwear.
Discreetly, he activated the video recording function on his mobile phone, placing it under the table with his arm resting on his lap, directing the camera towards the victim. Unbeknownst to her, he recorded at least two upskirt videos.
Alert to his actions, two customers nearby noticed and promptly informed an assistant branch manager at the food court. The manager documented evidence of the man’s actions through photographs and immediately notified the victim. Subsequently, she made a police report.
During the court proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Foo sought a sentence of two to three weeks’ imprisonment for the man. He emphasized the significant breach of trust committed by the accused, considering the long-standing friendship between the victim and the perpetrator.
Voyeurism, the offense committed by the man, carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, a fine, caning, or a combination thereof.