Man fined for repeat offence of urinating on woman’s shoe

• Low Yan Long, 36, urinated on a shoe that was left on a shoe rack outside a flat
• He was fined S$3,200 for the act as well as for not wearing a mask during the pandemic
• In 2019, he was fined S$5,000 for masturbating and urinating in women’s shoes

SINGAPORE — A freelance undertaker who was previously fined for masturbating and urinating in women's shoes was fined again on Tuesday (Nov 16) for urinating on another woman's shoe.

Low Yan Long, 36, was fined S$3,200 after pleading guilty to one count of committing an obscene act in public and another count of not wearing his face mask properly under Covid-19 rules.

In 2019, he was handed a S$5,000 fine for two offences of committing obscene acts in public. Another two such charges were taken into consideration during sentencing then.

Low had said then that he would get sexually aroused when he saw and smelled women’s shoes, as he would imagine beautiful women wearing them.

On Aug 3 this year, Low repeated the offence at a housing estate where he was providing funeral services.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Melissa Heng told the court that as he was leaving the area, he felt a sudden urge to urinate. 

With his mask pulled down to his chin, he went up to the ninth floor where he saw shoes placed on a rack outside a flat.

Low picked up a pink-coloured shoe and sniffed it. He urinated on it before placing it back onto the shoe rack.

His acts were recorded by a motion-activated camera installed on the apartment's door.

The woman who owned the shoe and her husband later found “some wet patches and white spots” on the shoe, DPP Heng said. They later reported the case to the police.

Low has compensated the woman S$44.29 for the cost of replacing the shoe.

DPP Heng asked for a fine of S$2,500 to S$3,500 for the obscene act, saying that it was needed to deter Low from committing such offences again. She sought a “low fine” of less than S$1,000 for Low’s offence of not wearing his mask properly.

Low asked District Judge Prem Raj to bar the media from reporting his name, but the judge denied his request, saying that there was no basis to do so.

The judge allowed him to pay his fine in instalments.

For committing an obscene act in public, he could have been jailed for up to three months or fined, or both.

For not wearing a mask, he could have been jailed up to six months or fined up to S$10,000, or both.

PAST OFFENCES

In January 2019, Low ejaculated into a pair of shoes he picked up outside a flat in Toa Payoh and left them at a staircase landing. His act was caught by a surveillance camera that was installed outside the flat.

Low committed the same act in July that year after he was released on court bail.

He got a colleague at the casket company where he worked to drop him off in Ang Mo Kio and went to a block of flats to look for women’s shoes.

After searching for about 20 minutes, Low came across a pair of red shoes on a rack outside a flat.

He smelled them and masturbated with them, before urinating into the shoes. He then placed the shoes back on the rack and left.

Low’s actions were again captured by a surveillance camera installed by the shoe owner’s neighbour. He was arrested three days later.

A doctor from the Institute of Mental Health said then that Low was not mentally ill, describing his actions as due to his “dysfunctional and sexually deviant way of dealing with his stress”.