Ex-ambulance driver who took photo of dead maid fined S$1,500
Shaik Haziq Fahmi Shaik Nasair Johar snapped a picture of a dead foreign domestic helper who was found hanging from a fan in a residential unit, and sent it to a WhatsApp chat group of his colleagues. He was fined S$1,500 for contravening the Official Secrets Act.
SINGAPORE — It was his first time responding to a case where a person died by hanging and he wanted to tell his colleagues. So ambulance driver Shaik Haziq Fahmi Shaik Nasair Johar whipped out his mobile phone, snapped a picture of a dead foreign domestic helper who was hanging from a fan in a residential unit.
He then sent it to a WhatsApp chat group of his colleagues from Unistrong Technology, a company contracted to respond to medical emergencies on behalf of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
The picture he took of the domestic worker — who cannot be named due to a court order — ended up going viral on social media, sparking police investigations on how it was taken and disseminated.
On Monday (Sept 10), Haziq, 29, was fined S$1,500 for contravening the Official Secrets Act (OSA), after he admitted to taking and sending the photo on WhatsApp.
Haziq, who has been terminated by Unistrong, is the second person dealt with in court over this incident.
Last month, Haziq's colleague, Nurrizah Afiqah Hussain, 27, was fined S$3,000 after she pleaded guilty to two offences under the OSA. The former paramedic had sent her boyfriend the photo that Haziq had taken, along with a call sheet issued by the SCDF.
On Monday, the court heard that Haziq, Nurrizah, and two other Unistrong employees responded to a call for a medical emergency on Feb 1 last year. Nurrizah took a photo of the call sheet and sent it to her boyfriend via WhatsApp. She later took another photo of the call sheet and sent it to a WhatsApp chat group comprising 19 employees from Unistrong.
After that, the team of four went to the caller's apartment together with police officers to carry out their duties.
Before leaving, Haziq took a photo of the deceased's body that was still hanging, while Nurrizah shone a torchlight on the body to enable him to take the photo.
Haziq then sent the photo to the same WhatsApp group of 19 Unistrong employees, court documents said.
Nurrizah forwarded that photo to her boyfriend Fazli Hisham Mohd Fairuz Shah, who sent it to another WhatsApp chat group. One of his friends in that chat group forwarded the photos to three other domestic workers here, and one of them posted the images on Facebook.
After learning that the photos were circulating on social media, the deceased's agent informed the deceased's employer, who made a police report.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Selene Yap told the court on Monday that Haziq had obtained the photo in the course of his duty, despite being aware of confidentiality clauses in his employment contract.
He was also the originator of the photo, DPP Yap added, asking for a fine of S$1,500.
In his sentencing remarks, District Judge Marvin Bay called Haziq's act of disseminating the photo through WhatsApp "deeply disturbing".
"You were not tasked to photograph … you were aware of your obligations under the OSA," he said. "Such an act can cause intense anguish to the family of the (foreign domestic worker)."
