Undergrad from top UK university gets more charges of filming women
Prosecution seeks to block bid by undergrad to leave Singapore to attend classes at top UK university
The undergraduate from a top university in Britain who was previously charged with two counts of filming women in toilets has been slapped with another 17 charges.
The 22-year-old Singaporean, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the alleged victims, was back in court yesterday.
He was given the additional charges during a previous court session on Jan 3.
The prosecution told the court that forensic investigators had found another 18 obscene videos on his seized devices, and that they have identified a total of 11 victims, nine more than the two identified previously.
Two of the alleged victims in this new batch of videos are from the same university as the accused.
The accused now faces a total of 19 charges for insulting the modesty of a woman and one charge for possession of obscene films.
Of the 20 videos he allegedly took, two were in toilets in 2015 and 2016, one was at King Albert Park MRT station in 2018, and 16 in the toilets of his homes here when the accused was living in a condominium and another unit of residence in 2018.
It is alleged that the 11 victims are known to the accused and that he had invited them over to his home.
The statement from the investigating officer also said one of the alleged victims was just 15 at the time.
According to an affidavit from the police, at least two of the videos were found circulating online.
When previously facing just two charges in October last year, the accused was granted leave to fly to Britain to begin the first semester of his second year in university. He returned on Dec 11 last year, having completed the semester.
NEW EVIDENCE
During the court session yesterday, the accused again applied for permission to fly to Britain later this month to begin another semester.
He is expected to graduate in June next year if his studies are not disrupted.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Foo Shi Hao said the prosecution objected to him being given leave to do so, citing the new evidence that was found.
"Investigations have found that his offences are more serious than previously thought," he said. "The time has come for the accused to face the music. This is not the time for the accused to fly to (Britain)."
The DPP added that the accused was a clear flight risk and was in a "privileged position", being able to study abroad.
But defence counsel Kalidass Murugaiyan urged the court to grant his client permission to leave Singapore, asking for an increase in bail.
He added that the accused was already previously allowed to leave Singapore for his studies but still came back for court sessions.
The accused is currently maintaining his position of wanting to claim trial to the charges.
District Judge Adam Nakhoda adjourned the court session so he could consider whether to grant the application for the accused to leave jurisdiction.
The accused is expected to be back in court tomorrow.
If convicted of insulting the modesty of a woman, the accused could be jailed for up to a year, or fined, or both, for each charge.
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