SINGAPORE — They were undergraduates together and later shared a flat in Singapore, but a Malaysian man broke that trust and took voyeuristic videos of two of his female friends, including his friend's girlfriend.

The 27-year-old Malaysian and Singapore permanent resident, who cannot be named to protect the victims' identities, was sentenced to 45 weeks' jail on Thursday (Dec 7).

He pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism, with a third charge taken into consideration.

The court heard that the offender was part of a group of four friends, including a 27-year-old woman and her 26-year-old boyfriend, and a 26-year-old woman.

They had known each other since they were undergraduates and later shared a flat in Singapore.

The first victim, the 27-year-old woman, was also the offender's colleague.

Sometime in early 2021, the offender began recording upskirt videos of the first victim in the flat they shared.

He then began filming her in their office as well.

In total, he filmed her 20 times in the flat and the office.

Sometime in 2022, the offender began recording upskirt videos of the other female victim in the flat. He did so on at least nine occasions.

He also began filming the first victim as she showered in the master bedroom, capturing her face.

On the last occasion, he was home alone when the victim returned home. After the pair chatted, the victim went to shower.

The offender extended his handphone into the toilet window, intending to record the victim.

She noticed him and shouted. The offender retracted his hand, and the victim later called her boyfriend and told him what happened.

The offender apologised to the victim, lying that he had heard the sound of water in the toilet and wanted to see who was inside.

He deleted the voyeuristic material from his phone and Google Drive account, and believed he had cleared it all.

VICTIM'S BOYFRIEND CONFRONTED OFFENDER

When the victim's boyfriend came home to the shared flat, he confronted the offender.

The offender admitted that he was the culprit but lied about the purpose of extending his handphone into the toilet window, claiming that he was unsure if there was anyone else in the flat and wanted to make a recording to see if there was anyone else.

The victim's boyfriend checked the offender's phone and found some voyeuristic videos he had failed to delete, as well as screenshots of some videos.

He then confronted the offender and went to a police centre along with the offender to lodge a report at about 3am on Nov 24, 2022.

The offender's lawyer asked for the lowest sentence possible, saying his client was remorseful and wanted to plead guilty from the start.

He said his client had fully cooperated and surrendered to the police on his own accord.

He also extended his apologies to the victims and made attempts to seek self-help by attending counselling sessions at two centres.

"One counsellor, a pastor, is present in court today to give him the support," said the lawyer.

The penalty for voyeurism is a jail term of up to two years, a fine, caning, or any combination of these punishments. CNA