Man jailed for entering woman's bedroom via balcony to watch and molest her

SINGAPORE: A construction worker who was walking along a road saw a woman naked in her condominium unit and resolved to see her again as he found her attractive.

He drove to the unit the next night and climbed over a ledge onto her balcony before watching her sleep in a state of undress. He then walked into her bedroom where he touched her toes.

When the woman shouted in shock and called for help from a security guard who called the police, the man fled, but returned again another night and watched the woman for three hours.

He was finally arrested when the police saw him loitering outside on a third occasion. Court documents did not indicate which floor the unit was on.

On Wednesday (Oct 8), 41-year-old Indian national Thirupathi Mohandas was sentenced to 13 months' jail. He pleaded guilty to one count of molestation and two counts of voyeurism, with another four charges taken into consideration.

In sentencing, the judge pointed to his "predatory persistence" as well as his "sustained campaign of harassment over three days".

THE CASE

The court heard that Thirupathi was a construction worker and driver and was assigned a lorry by his company.

At about 10.30pm on Apr 29 this year, he was walking along a road when he passed a condominium unit. Details of the location were redacted from court documents because of a gag order protecting the victim's identity.

Thirupathi saw the victim, a 35-year-old American woman, who was naked in her unit through a window. 

The following day, at about 11.30pm, Thirupathi drove his lorry and parked along the road near the unit.

He walked there and saw the victim naked inside. He then went to buy a drink from a vending machine before turning to the unit.

When he saw that she was still naked, he decided to enter the unit to see her.

At about 1.15am that night, after loitering outside for about an hour, Thirupathi climbed over a ledge onto the balcony of the unit after making sure there were no passers-by or traffic around.

From the balcony, Thirupathi observed the victim sleeping with her chest exposed in her bedroom for 30 to 40 minutes.

When the victim turned so that her back faced the balcony, Thirupathi opened the sliding door on the balcony and made his way into the bedroom.

He touched the victim's toes. The second time he did this, the victim kicked her blanket at him and sat up.

When she saw Thirupathi crouched at the bottom of her bed, she cursed at him and he ran out, climbing down the same ledge and fleeing.

The victim felt scared and disgusted and immediately sought help from a security guard at the condominium guardhouse, who called the police.

HE RETURNED AGAIN

Undeterred, Thirupathi returned to the condominium sometime before midnight on May 2 and loitered outside for about an hour.

At about 1.35am on May 3, he climbed onto the balcony again and stood there for three hours, looking at the woman.

She was awake this time, and wearing a short top and underwear in her bedroom.

The woman heard a sound coming from the balcony and looked through her bedroom window to see a silhouette of Thirupathi standing on the balcony.

She was alarmed and was unable to tell if it was the same person.

She waited until she could ascertain that the silhouette had moved out of view before alerting the security guards. By then, Thirupathi had climbed down from the ledge of the balcony.

Sometime before midnight the next day, Thirupathi was arrested by police officers who saw him loitering at the area outside the unit.

He admitted that he had intended to see the victim again.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ernest Chua sought 12 to 18 months' jail for Thirupathi, saying his repeated invasions of her home and body over three days were "indecent and highly invasive".

His offending may "well have gone on unabated" if he had not been arrested, he added.

The impact of the molestation of the victim's toes was substantial, said Mr Chua.

He said there was skin-to-skin contact and that while this was not made to her private parts, it was "still shocking as seen from her reaction and subsequent feelings of fear and disgust", said Mr Chua.

He said there was a pressing public interest in deterring molestation offences, as recent statistics from the police show that the second-most common physical crime in Singapore in the first half of 2025 was outrage of modesty.

Such offences most commonly occurred at residential premises.

Mr Chua added that Thirupathi had "invaded the victim's home" after stalking her and committed the offence while she was in a vulnerable state.

Thirupathi was defended by Mr Ang Boon Yaw, who adjusted his sentencing submissions a few times at the judge's prompting.

He eventually asked for eight to 10-and-a-half months' jail, saying that his client wanted to serve his sentence and start afresh and to return to his family.

He said Thirupathi has fully acknowledged the seriousness of his offences and the distress caused to the victim, and is "deeply ashamed of his behaviour".

This was his first offence and he has cooperated fully and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, said Mr Ang.

In his mitigation submission, he said Thirupathi had "lost control of himself" but clarified when probed that he knew what he was doing.

District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said the victim was entitled to feel safe at home, and her vulnerability was also heightened as she was asleep the first time.

The second time he returned, it was highly premeditated as he knew the victim did not consent to being observed, and he was "effectively stalking her", said the judge.

She said his conduct was not a momentary lapse but a sustained campaign of harassment over three days, during which he repeatedly sought out the victim and lingered near her home.

"I cannot ignore the fact that his behaviour only ceased upon his arrest on May 4, 2025, when he was again found loitering near the victim's apartment intent on committing yet another (voyeurism) offence," she said.

For voyeurism, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.

For molestation, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these penalties.