NUS student gets caning, 9 months' jail for molesting fellow student, peeping in hall toilet

SINGAPORE — After a night of working on her final year project, the 24-year-old National University of Singapore (NUS) student was taking a nap in the computer laboratory with her boyfriend when she was molested.

The culprit was her classmate, who, unknown to her, had been issued a conditional warning for peeping into a hall toilet one-and-a-half years ago.

On Monday (July 30), the molester was sentenced to nine months' jail and three strokes of the cane. The 26-year-old, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim's identity, pleaded guilty to two charges of molest and insulting the modesty of a woman.

Another charge of misappropriation of items between Jan 11 and Nov 25, 2015, which included women's underwear and clothing belonging to unknown women, was considered for sentencing.

A NUS spokesperson said: "The University takes a serious view of any misconduct by our students. The student concerned is currently serving a candidature suspension, during which he is mandated to seek psychiatric treatment.

"Security measures are also in place to protect the safety and well-being of our students on our campuses.”

The court heard that at about 5am on Nov 25, 2015, the man decided to peep into the shower cubicle of a female toilet in Eusoff Hall when he heard someone showering there. He did so by going into the cubicle beside hers and climbing the partition wall.

When his 22-year-old victim noticed him, she quickly left the toilet to get help. The campus security officer came to her aid and took a photograph of him inside the locked cubicle, where he had remained after being caught red-handed.

He then unlocked the door and surrendered to the security officer, who called the police.

He was issued a 12-month conditional warning for that act and for stealing clothing from unknown women. It was not mentioned in court when he was caught for the latter.

On April 20, 2017, while working on his final year project at an NUS computer lab, he offended again.

At about 7pm on the previous day, his victim, accompanied by her boyfriend, joined him in the lab. A few hours later, the man and the victim's boyfriend went to sleep. She decided to do so as well.

At about 6am the next day, he noticed the victim sleeping when he woke up to use the washroom. He then walked towards her, and proceeded to molest her.

When she woke up, he quickly walked away. He apologised to them when she and her boyfriend confronted him about the incident. She informed the NUS authorities and lodged a police report four days later.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mark Yeo said that while the man had been diagnosed with voyeurism and fetishism by the Institute of Mental Health, these were "not impulse-control disorders" that led to his molest or peeping offences. "They do not deprive a person of their self-control," he added.

In his client's defence, the man's lawyer, Mr Jason Lim, told the court that his client "gets a thrill of walking around (in female clothing) and passing off as a woman".

He added that for the molest charge, there was no skin-to-skin contact, and it was only a brief touch.

The man has been working full-time as a Deliveroo driver, according to Mr Lim. His sentence has been deferred to Aug 8 and he is currently out on S$10,000 bail.

For molest, he could been jailed up to two years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three. For using any word or gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman, he could have been jailed up to one year and/or fined.