Jail for man who sent intimate photos of ex-girlfriend to her friend in revenge for break-up

SINGAPORE — Seeking revenge against his ex-girlfriend after their break-up, a 29-year-old man sent her friend 10 intimate pictures of her.

On Tuesday (March 12), Islam Md Rafiqul was sentenced to three months' jail after pleading guilty to distributing intimate content of someone without their consent.

Four other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. These charges also pertain to his actions against his ex-girlfriend, including trespassing and voluntarily causing hurt.

The victim cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her identity.

Appearing in court via video-link as he is in remand, Islam cried and occasionally let out a sob during the proceedings. He also kept his hands together throughout, begging for leniency.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) J Jayaletchmi told the court that Islam, a Bangladeshi, was dating a 33-year-old Indonesian domestic helper from 2020 to March 2023.

Sometime in April 2023, about a month after their relationship ended, Islam sent 10 intimate images of his ex-girlfriend to a friend of hers.

These intimate images were taken while Islam was still in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend, and showed her engaging in sexual acts. Her face was visible in these photos.

The friend immediately deleted the images and blocked Islam from being able to contact her.

"The victim had previously consented to the accused taking the photographs during their relationship, and had told him to delete the photographs afterwards," said DPP Jayaletchmi, adding that Islam's ex-girlfriend had trusted him to do so.

"He was angry that their relationship had ended and wanted to humiliate the victim by distributing the 10 intimate images."

Court documents did not state why they broke up and what his occupation in Singapore was. 

The four charges against Islam that were taken into consideration were over an incident on the morning of April 9 in 2023.

He had trespassed into a house in the Beauty World area where his ex-girlfriend lived and used a belt to restrain her hands to a railing.

Court documents also state that he used the string from her hoodie to wrap around her neck and stole her handphone worth S$290.

Her employer called the police that day, informing them that Islam and his ex-girlfriend had "some money issues".

DPP Jayaletchmi called for a jail term between three and five months and said: "He acted out of malice and spite after his relationship with the victim ended, and wanted to humiliate the victim by distributing the intimate images.

"The accused had also breached the trust the victim placed in him... (she) believed that the intimate images the accused took would be deleted as per her instructions to him."

For distributing intimate images of another person without consent, Islam could have been jailed for up to five years, fined, caned or given any combination of such punishments.