SMU student accused of taking upskirt videos

A Singapore Management University (SMU) student allegedly targeted the same woman 19 times, secretly filming upskirt videos of her between May 28 and Sept 3 last year.

Court documents did not state the locations where Tien Kiat Chong is said to have committed the offences with his mobile phone.

The 24-year-old Singaporean, whose case was heard in a district court last Wednesday, is facing one charge of insulting a woman's modesty and another charge under the Films Act for allegedly being in possession of 37 obscene videos.

The videos were said to have been found on him at around 9pm on Sept 4 last year when he was at Sengkang MRT station.

In a statement to The Straits Times yesterday, SMU confirmed he is still a student there.

A spokesman said: "The university takes a strong stand against any form of misconduct. Students who breach SMU's code of student conduct face a range of sanctions, including suspension and expulsion.

"As the case is currently before the courts, it would not be appropriate for SMU to comment further."

Tien is the latest male tertiary student to be hauled to court for similar offences.

In January, former Nanyang Technological University (NTU) student Han Shiyu, 18, was sentenced to a short detention order of two weeks for trespassing into a female toilet at a residential hall to film a student who was in the shower.

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

NTU expelled the Chinese national soon after he committed the offence in August last year.

Last month, National University of Singapore student Joel Rasis Ismail, 27, pleaded guilty to three charges of insulting a woman's modesty and one of criminal trespass.

The Singaporean had admitted to taking voyeuristic videos, including those of women in the shower on campus last year.

Joel is expected to be sentenced today.

Tien's case has been adjourned to Nov 5.

For each count of insulting a woman's modesty, an offender can be jailed for up to a year and fined.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 20, 2020, with the headline SMU student accused of taking upskirt videos. Subscribe