NTU student who peeped at another man showering gets short detention order

Samuel Devaraj
The Straits Times
July 28, 2022

A man pointed his mobile phone camera at another man who was showering in a toilet cubicle in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), but was caught by the victim.

After fleeing the scene, the Peeping Tom messaged his girlfriend and admitted his offence, adding that he got caught and was now in trouble.

Xu Ziye, 22, was sentenced to a 14-day short detention order on Thursday (July 28).

The Chinese national, who was an NTU student then, pleaded guilty to a voyeurism charge and another charge for possessing obscene films.

Offenders given a short detention order are put behind bars for a short time, but will not have a criminal record after their release.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, an NTU spokesman said Xu was suspended for a semester following the offence, and was mandated to undergo counselling. He has since graduated from NTU. 

The spokesman added that the university had extended support to the individuals involved after the incident. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Wuan told the court that on Aug 26, 2020, at about 3.30pm, the victim entered the toilet at the same time as Xu and went into the last cubicle to take a shower.

"The accused then entered the adjacent toilet cubicle, intending to operate equipment (a mobile phone) to observe and take a photograph of the victim's genitals while he was showering in the nude," said DPP Wuan.

Xu turned on the camera and lifted it over the cubicle wall, aiming it at the victim.

The victim saw this and shouted at Xu and immediately began to wear his trousers. When the victim got dressed and came out of the cubicle, he saw Xu running out of the toilet.

Xu was detained with the assistance of a security officer and the police were called at 4pm that day.

Following his arrest, 722 obscene films, including explicit ones, were found on two phones that were seized from him.

Before meting out the sentence, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan noted that there was a high degree of intrusion, but that the level of premeditation and culpability was not high.

He also took into account Xu's age and that it was his first offence.

For voyeurism, offenders can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or sentenced to any combination of these punishments. 

For possessing obscene films, he could have been fined up to $2,000, jailed for up to six months or both.