SINGAPORE, March 27 — A Vietnamese man in Singapore has been sentenced to 10 weeks in jail after he was caught on CCTV committing lewd acts in his Malaysian co-tenant’s room, The Straits Times reported.
Nguyen Van Hao, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of insulting the modesty of his 29-year-old flatmate.
Another charge of trespassing was taken into consideration during sentencing.
The court heard that the victim, who rented a room in the same flat, had noticed her belongings being moved out of place since the beginning of the year.
Feeling uneasy, she installed a closed-circuit television camera in her room on February 16.
On February 19, while at work, she received a motion alert from the camera and observed Nguyen entering her room without permission.
He remained there for approximately 16 minutes, during which he committed obscene acts, including wearing her undergarments, using a condom, and performing lewd acts with her plush toy.
Nguyen was aware the room door was unlocked and used the opportunity to trespass, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dhiraj G Chainani told the court.
Before leaving, Nguyen returned the victim’s items to their original positions and tidied the bed.
Distressed by the live footage, the victim lodged a police report the same day.
She later expressed fear and unease about continuing to live in the same flat as Nguyen while considering alternative housing arrangements.
“The degree of intrusion into the victim’s privacy was particularly high,” Dhiraj said, describing Nguyen’s actions as a gross violation.
He emphasised the potential risk of the victim unwittingly using the affected items if the acts had gone undetected.
Nguyen faced a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail, a fine, or both for insulting the victim’s modesty.