Student, 20, jailed 4 months for trying to take photos of female classmate in toilet

SINGAPORE — A 20-year-old part-time student was jailed four months on Thursday (Dec 17) for trespassing a women’s toilet in his school and trying to film his friend in a cubicle.

Just two months ago, Zulhusny Mohamad Arshad was released on supervision. He had finished serving a stint in reformative training — a regimented rehabilitation programme for offenders under 21 who commit relatively serious crimes — for molesting a woman in 2017.

This time, he pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism. Another charge of criminal trespass was taken into consideration for sentencing.

His 18-year-old victim and the educational institute that they attended cannot be named due to court orders to protect her identity.

The court heard that Zulhusny and the girl were sending each other phone text messages while attending lessons on Aug 8. She then told Zulhusny that she wanted to go to the toilet.

Zulhusny, who had left the classroom about 10 minutes before that, spotted her walking towards the women’s toilet. He then decided to wait behind a nearby pillar for the victim to enter before following her into the toilet.

Noticing that only one cubicle was occupied, Zulhusny switched on the camera function of his mobile phone and held it above the cubicle door.

The victim, who had already removed her pants and underwear, saw a shadow in front of the door and locked up. 

Shocked at the sight of Zulhusny’s mobile phone, she shouted, prompting him to quickly retract the device before he managed to take any photographs. He then ran out to a nearby staircase landing.

Zulhusny was later identified from closed-circuit television camera footage. No incriminating photos were found on his mobile phone. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yeow Xuan sought the sentence imposed, saying that jail time would deter like-minded offenders and Zulhusny himself, “with the hope of persuading him to refrain from further unlawful acts”.

For his previous offence, he was released from reformative training and placed on supervision on June 3.

The prosecutor noted that his latest offence was premeditated to some extent, since he had waited behind a pillar to avoid detection.

For voyeurism, Zulhusny could have been jailed up to two years or fined or caned, or any combination of the three.

The offence of voyeurism, which was recently introduced into the law books, took effect from Jan 1 onwards, replacing the previous charge of insulting a woman’s modesty. Voyeurism now covers both male and female victims.