Jail for voyeur who broke into condo unit in wee hours 'for fun', then tried to film woman in toilet while on bail

SINGAPORE — Wanting to do something fun that would excite him “without getting caught”, a man with a history of voyeurism broke into a condominium unit and saw a woman sleeping before being caught by her husband. 

Zulhusny Mohd Arshad, 23, was sentenced to four months and eight weeks' jail on Thursday (April 4) after pleading guilty to one charge of housebreaking and another charge of voyeurism.

The voyeurism charge related to Zulhusny filming a woman in a female toilet at Kebun Baru Community Club while on bail for the housebreaking charge.

Two other charges of criminal trespass were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

The names of the victims cannot be published due to a court order protecting their identities. 

Court documents stated that Zulhusny has a previous voyeurism conviction, from 2020, also involving filming a woman in a toilet.

WHAT HAPPENED 

Around 1am on Feb 12, 2023, Zulhusny decided to leave his home for a walk wearing two shirts, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jonathan Tan told the court. 

Wanting to do something he could derive excitement from without getting caught, he decided to go and “explore” the condominium nearby without authorisation and explore strangers’ homes if he could.

Zulhusny wore a red shirt underneath a black shirt and took off the outer shirt when he arrived at the void deck of a public housing block opposite the condominium. 

He placed the shirt on a wall at the void deck as a ploy to avoid being identified from closed-circuit television footage and walked to the condominium wearing his red shirt, a mask and a cap.

Around 2.45am, he climbed one of the walls surrounding the condominium compound and walked within the compound. 

He looked around the ground floor units, but did not enter the first two units as the first unit’s window was closed and had lights on, while the second unit had grills on the window. 

When he arrived at the third home, he noticed the lights were off and a window was slightly open.

Zulhusny then opened the window wider and climbed into the unit through the master bedroom toilet, leaving his slippers outside the unit. 

He walked through the master bedroom, where he saw the woman sleeping. He then removed his mask and cap and walking around the living room and kitchen area to “explore”, said DPP Tan. 

As he walked to the kitchen, he was caught in the act by the woman’s husband, who was walking out of one of the rooms. 

The man shouted at Zulhusny, shocking him. The home owner then grabbed Zulhusny and threw him out of the unit. 

Zulhusny ran to retrieve his slippers and climbed over the same wall he had used to enter the condominium and ran back to the void deck to retrieve his black shirt. 

After removing his red shirt, he threw it into a recycling bin and donned the black shirt before returning home. 

The home owner later made a police report that a stranger had walked into his home and entered the room where his wife was sleeping, before being discovered. 

Four days later, Zulhusny appeared in court and was released on bail. A few months later, while on bail, he committed another offence of voyeurism against a 24-year-old female friend of his ex-girlfriend.

Zulhusny was not on good terms with the friend.

On May 15, the woman went to the female toilet at Kebun Baru Community Club. Zulhusny, who was at the community club at the same time, entered the female toilet with the intention of recording her in the toilet. 

He entered the cubicle next to the woman and locked the door, before taking his handphone and activating its camera function before putting it over the divider between the two cubicles with the camera lens facing the cubicle. 

The woman felt something was amiss and looked up, catching sight of Zulhusny’s phone, after which he quickly retracted his phone. 

She exited her cubicle and knocked on the neighbouring cubicle door occupied by Zulhusny, holding her phone to record him when he exited. 

When she recognised Zulhusny as her friend’s ex-boyfriend, she asked him why he had recorded her. 

Another woman in the toilet who had heard a "click" sound assisted the woman in confronting Zulhusny and checking his phone, but they did not find any incriminating images or videos of the woman.

The prosecution sought a sentence of six to eight months’ jail, citing his previous conviction of an “almost identical” offence of voyeurism.

He had previously been sentenced to four months’ jail for filming a female friend in a toilet while he was a student in 2020.

“He not only broke into someone’s house for fun, but he has also displayed a persistent penchant for voyeuristic acts committed against personal acquaintances, undeterred by his previous sentence of four months’ imprisonment for such acts,” said DPP Tan. 

A higher sentence for this instance would be justified given Zulhusny’s multiple offending, including while on bail, which showed he appeared to have “learnt little” from his previous jail term, said DPP Tan. 

For being convicted of voyeurism, the man could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, or caned, or received any combination of such punishments.

Anyone who commits housebreaking can be jailed for up to three years or fined, or both.