Stranger allegedly assaults couple near Esplanade after accusing them of filming her

A Singaporean couple were allegedly harassed and attacked by a stranger on Feb 9.

Mr Justin Ng, 47, and his wife Elsie Zeng, 42, told The New Paper they had just returned to Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year after spending eight months abroad.

The couple decided to film a video capturing the city skyline to celebrate their homecoming, and went to a popular viewpoint near the Esplanade.

As they were getting ready to film, a woman approached them and started accusing the couple of filming her.

According to Mr Ng, they tried to explain that they weren't recording yet but the women refused to listen and insisted they had committed an offence by filming her.

The couple then tried clarifying that filming in a public space wasn't illegal, but this only made the woman more agitated.

Contrary to popular belief, it is typically not against the law to take videos of another person without their consent apart from certain conditions, such as if it is in a private place.

The couple decided to ignore the woman and continue walking towards the viewpoint, which further provoked the woman, who then started hurling vulgarities at the couple and threatened to call the police.

Mr Ng and Ms Zeng started recording the woman's behaviour for their own protection should the authorities get involved, and the woman approached Mr Ng and hit him repeatedly.

The couple quickly left the scene while the woman continued screaming and cursing at them.

Mr Ng shared that they were distressed when they were accused of filming the woman, but chose not to file a police report as they believed the woman could be facing mental health issues.

"She wished us "祝你新年不快乐，年年都倒霉 which is English means 'I wish you an unhappy New Year and bad luck every year'," he told The New Paper.

Mr Ng and Ms Zeng didn't want to escalate the issue as they were flying to Japan soon and didn't want to let the incident spoil their time in Singapore.

The couple posted the video of the alleged assault online, drawing comments from netizens, with some doubting the incident actually happened as there was no police report filed.

There were netizens who cast doubt on the reason the stranger felt provoked, while others simply put it down to the couple being at the wrong place at the wrong time.