Man took upskirt videos of colleague under foodcourt table to see her thighs and underwear

Nadine Chua
The Straits Times
Jul 3, 2023

They were colleagues for 10 years and she considered him a friend. But while having coffee with him at a foodcourt in April 2021, he took upskirt videos of her.

The man, 46, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail on Monday. He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Foo Shi Hao said they had known each other for around a decade, having also worked together at their previous workplace.

The victim considered him a friend and would go to him for advice on work-related matters, said the DPP.

On April 15, 2021, at around 1pm, the man and the victim went to Food Republic at 313@somerset to have coffee after lunch.

The victim sat directly across from him at a table in the foodcourt and while they were chatting, the man had an urge to look at the victim’s thighs and underwear.

He discreetly turned on the video recording function on his mobile phone and held it underneath the table with his arm resting on his lap and the camera pointed in the victim’s direction.

DPP Foo said he recorded at least two upskirt videos of the victim without her noticing.

His actions were spotted by two customers, who alerted an assistant branch manager at the foodcourt.

The manager took photos of what the man did and informed the victim, who made a police report.

Seeking between two and three weeks’ jail for the man, DPP Foo said the victim and the accused were long-time friends and that he had broken her trust in committing such acts.

The offence of voyeurism carries a jail term of up to two years, a fine, caning, or any combination of such punishments.

The police’s annual crime statistics released in February reported that there were 424 voyeurism cases in 2022 – a slight drop from 467 cases in 2021, but it still remains a crime of concern.

Residential premises, public transport and shopping complexes were the top three locations where voyeurs struck.

The police noted that cases at residential premises and shopping complexes mainly involved perpetrators known to the victim, and the cases on public transport typically involved the taking of upskirt photos.