SINGAPORE, June 10 — A 26-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 28 days in jail after admitting to taking voyeuristic upskirt photos of a woman on an MRT escalator and being found in possession of over 100 similar images, according to The Straits Times.
Lai Zi Yang committed the offence on November 1, 2024, while travelling to meet a friend for dinner.
While on an escalator at Tampines MRT station, Lai used his phone camera to capture 14 upskirt photos of a woman standing in front of him.
Another commuter saw Lai’s actions and confronted him, prompting the victim to lodge a police report.
According to the news report, investigations later revealed that Lai had taken upskirt photos of at least 10 other women, with over 100 such images stored in a passcode-protected folder on his phone.
Lai reportedly admitted that he would transfer the photos to the locked folder, where they would be automatically deleted from his phone’s photo gallery. He confessed to viewing the images when he was alone at home or in a toilet.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Teng Yin Hang stated that Lai had been tempted to take such photos whenever he saw women in short skirts nearby.
In court, Lai’s lawyer Low Chun Yee was reported to have said that his client had sought voluntary treatment and expressed remorse for his actions.
Low added that Lai, who registered his marriage in May and is waiting for the keys to his Build-To-Order (BTO) flat, understood the seriousness of his actions.
District Judge John Ng noted Lai’s pattern of behaviour, referencing the large number of images found during investigations.
According to the report, he emphasised the difficulty of detecting such offences and the need to send a strong deterrent message to others who might consider similar actions.
The Straits Times reported that under Singaporean law, those convicted of voyeurism can face up to two years in jail, a fine, caning, or a combination of these penalties.
