36-year-old Indian national jailed for filming a couple having sex in public toilet
A 36-year-old Indian national was jailed for 17 weeks on Monday for filming a couple having sex in a cubicle of a public toilet here. Kuppusamy Karthik was jailed after pleading guilty to three counts of voyeurism.
Three other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing, according to a Channel News Asia report.
The voyeur followed a couple to a public toilet at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in the suburb public housing estate and stood on a basin to film them showering and having sex in a cubicle.
Two days later, he waited for them again at the same spot after observing that they would return at a certain time.
The court heard that Karthik was near the activity lawn and therapeutic garden at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park on the evening of October 28, 2020.
He saw a man and woman, whose identities have not been established, entering a shower cubicle. He then entered the cubicle next to theirs, which was meant for the disabled.
Curious as to what the couple was doing, Karthik climbed onto the basin and mirror in his cubicle, and used a metal bar to maintain his grip, the prosecutor said.
From his perspective, he had a full view of the couple's shower unit, the court heard.
Karthik filmed about three videos and took four to five photos of the couple using his phone, capturing their naked bodies and their faces.
He returned to the same spot two days later. After waiting for some time, he saw the couple enter a shower cubicle. He went to the same adjacent toilet, climbed up on the basin, filmed them engaging in sexual intercourse and took photos of them.
Karthik returned to the park on November 19, 2020, and went to a different toilet where he filmed three videos. One of them captured an unidentified woman entering the toilet.
A 22-year-old man later called the police, saying, "I caught this guy who (was) caught looking at my girlfriend peeing."
Karthik was arrested at around 3.30 am on November 20 and his phone was seized. Investigations uncovered the other recordings he had made illegally.
The prosecutor called for at least 18 weeks' jail, noting that Karthik was goal-oriented in his actions, entering the neighbouring toilet cubicle to observe the couple.
He had also committed similar offences in less than a month.
The maximum punishment for such voyeurism was doubled from one to two years under the penal code as part of amendments last year, said the prosecutor.
"This shows Parliament's intent that such offences should be punished more severely, particularly in response to the perceived inadequacy of previous penalties in deterring would-be offenders," she said.
