Man allegedly 'rains blows' on Stomper for taking photo of him with his bare feet on bus seat

It must be a common sight, judging by the number of photos submitted by Stompers.

Just go to the Stomp Instagram page and take a gander at the many photos of people sitting on the bus with their often bare feet resting on the opposite seat.

Stomper JL took one such photo of a fellow commuter on bus service 961 and was allegedly assaulted for it.

He said it happened on Aug 19 in the morning.

"This man put his feet up on the seats," recounted the Stomper, who shared the photo.

In the photo, the man can be seen with his slippers off and his bare feet on the seat opposite him. Next to him was a sign that prohibited feet on seats – with or without footwear.

"When I took pics of him, he got furious and demanded my handphone," said the Stomper.

"When I refused, he rained blows on me repeatedly for a minute and challenged me to a fight. I didn’t retaliate, verbally or physically, because I didn’t want the hassle.

"The bus stopped. He shouted at me to get off for a fight. I sat intact. He got down after two minutes."

In Singapore, there is no law that specifically states that you need consent to take photographs of people in a public place.

Of course, voyeurism is another story.

It will generally not be a breach of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) if you are in a public place because personal data that is publicly available is not protected by the PDPA.

However, you may not want someone to "rain blows" on you either, like what the Stomper claimed happened to him on the bus.

"The police told me that it would be a private prosecution, which meant I had to raise my own civil case even though I didn’t retaliate and was slightly injured," said the Stomper.

"This is what I want to sincerely share. The police advice in such situations is to report to the bus captain, not take pictures.

"Next, run to a safe place if the opponent gets physical and quickly call the police. Do not engage in retaliation. Note all the details like bus plate number, et cetera, if you can."

He added: "I hope my post helps anyone in similar situations."

In response to a Stomp query, the Police confirmed a report was lodged and they are looking into the matter.