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11 weeks' jail for man who followed woman into lift, punched her after holding phone under her skirt

SINGAPORE — While on the way back to his girlfriend’s home, Tan Hiang Peng decided to follow another woman to a lift and positioned himself behind her, holding his mobile phone under her skirt.
Tan Hiang Peng, an insurance agent, followed a woman he saw wearing a short skirt and entered a lift in a public housing block with her.
Tan Hiang Peng, an insurance agent, followed a woman he saw wearing a short skirt and entered a lift in a public housing block with her.
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  • Tan Hiang Peng began following a woman when he saw her wearing a short skirt
  • He went into the same lift as her and held his mobile phone under her skirt
  • She tried to prevent him from escaping but he punched her and fled
  • He then disposed of his attire at his girlfriend’s condominium complex

SINGAPORE — While on the way back to his girlfriend’s home, Tan Hiang Peng decided to follow another woman to a lift and positioned himself behind her, holding his mobile phone under her skirt.

When she caught him in the act, a scuffle ensued. Tan then punched the victim in the face and managed to flee the scene. 

On Wednesday (July 6), the 31-year-old Singaporean insurance agent was jailed for 11 weeks after pleading guilty to one charge each of voluntarily causing hurt and making a gesture intending to insult the victim’s modesty.

Another similar charge was taken into consideration for sentencing. 

The victim cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.

The incident happened on Sept 23 in 2020, as Tan was driving to his girlfriend's apartment after buying food from Hougang. 

He saw the victim walking along a pavement that evening and began following her because he saw that she was wearing a short skirt.

He stopped at an open-air car park to continue watching her and saw her walking towards a lift lobby.

He then decided to continue tailing her on foot.

When the victim got into the lift, Tan rushed in and pressed a random floor number. He then went behind her and held his iPhone, with the phone flashlight on, under her skirt.

She was wearing earbuds and listening to music at the time.

After several moments of Tan doing this, the victim noticed the light coming from Tan’s device and shouted at him. She tried to grab his hand but he pushed her away, leading to a scuffle.

She also tried to grab his shirt collar in order to prevent him from escaping.

Tan then punched her twice in the face in his attempt to flee. She loosened her grip and this allowed him to press the lift button for the nearest floor.

He ran out once the doors began opening and fled back to his car.

At his girlfriend’s place, he changed into a different top and footwear before going to the ground floor and discarding his original shirt and slippers in the communal rubbish bin. He did this to avoid detection, the court heard.

Tan was identified through police camera footage. He was arrested at his girlfriend’s place the following day.

The victim sought medical attention and was given medical leave.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jarret Huang told the court that more details arose when Tan was placed under investigation.

He claimed in a police statement that he disposed of his clothing because they got “torn” during the scuffle with the victim.

He also said that he placed his phone under the victim’s skirt because he had seen “similar acts done in pornographic videos and was curious and excited to try doing so himself”. He acknowledged that he was addicted to pornography, which he claimed led to him being curious about the victim.

In a subsequent statement to the police, he claimed that he had wanted to test the flashlight on his mobile phone.

The police seized his mobile phone, a 4-terabyte hard disk, a laptop and an iPad. They found more than two terabytes worth of pornographic videos and images in the devices.

Tan acknowledged that he knew it was illegal to download and store pornography on his devices, even though it was legal to stream it online, DPP Huang told the court.

The prosecutor sought at least 10 to 12 weeks’ jail for Tan, pointing to various aggravating factors such as Tan’s significant level of premeditation and him turning to violence to escape.

Tan had also tried to downplay his culpability by insisting that he was testing his mobile phone flashlight, DPP Huang argued.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Tan could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or punished with both.

For making a gesture intending to insult the victim’s modesty, he could have been jailed for up to a year or fined, or both.

Related topics

court crime insult of modesty voluntarily causing hurt assault

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