An insurance agent in Singapore has been sentenced to 11 weeks in jail for pointing his phone camera up a woman's skirt and later punching her as he tried to escape.
Tan Hiang Peng, 31, pled guilty to two charges of insulting the woman's modesty and voluntarily causing hurt, Channel News Asia reported. The court also took into consideration for sentencing a third charge of possessing obscene films.
On Sept. 23, 2020, Tan spotted the woman on Hougang Avenue, and he followed her by car for some distance before following her on foot into a lift, the court heard.
According to court documents, “he decided to follow her because, among other things, he perceived that she was wearing a short skirt.”
Tan joined the woman in the lift, where they were the only passengers. He stood behind the woman, who was listening to music on her earphones, and held his phone, with the flashlight turned on, under her skirt.
The victim noticed the light and, upon realising what Tan was doing, yelled at him. A physical scuffle occurred, and the victim grabbed Tan’s shirt collar to prevent him from escaping. To get away from her hold, Tan punched her twice and ran out of the lift towards his vehicle.
Tan drove to his girlfriend’s house and threw away the shirt and slippers he was wearing to avoid detection. However, he was still identified through police camera footage and was arrested the following day.
During the investigation, Tan said he placed his phone under the victim's skirt because he was “curious and excited” to try out the acts he had seen in pornographic videos. He also said that he was “testing the flashlight” on his phone.
While Tan did not record an upskirt video of the victim, the police found more than two terabytes of pornography on his electronic devices. Tan said he was struggling with pornography addiction and that he was aware that downloading and storing pornography is illegal.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jarret Huang sought a sentence between 10 and 12 weeks, pointing out that the offender turned to violence after he was caught, and then actively tried to hide his involvement.
