SINGAPORE: A woman who rented a room in a flat noticed that her belongings were moved while she was at work.
Concerned, the 29-year-old Malaysian installed a closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) and on Feb 19, watched in horror as her flatmate trespassed into her room and committed lewd acts.
Nguyen Van Hao, 38, a Vietnamese man who rented a room in the same flat with his wife, committed the acts for about 16 minutes.
Nguyen was jailed for 10 weeks on Thursday (Mar 27) after he pleaded guilty to one count of insulting the victim’s modesty, with another count of trespass taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The victim cannot be named due to a gag order on her identity.
The victim had noticed from the start of the year that items in her room would be moved from their original positions while she was at work, even though she was the only occupant in the room.
Feeling uneasy, the woman set up a security camera in her room on Feb 16, 2025.
When she left for work three days later, she received an app notification informing her that motion had been detected in her room.
On the live feed, she observed Nguyen. He had entered the room at about 8.28am without permission, wanting to smell the woman’s undergarments, the court heard. He knew that she had left her room door unlocked.
While in the room, Nguyen performed several obscene acts, leaving the room once in between for a few minutes.
The acts included him removing his shirt and wearing the victim’s underwear. He also put on a condom and performed a lewd act with the victim’s plush toy for several minutes.
After he was done, Nguyen took off the victim’s underwear, replaced the garments on the bed in their original positions, then tidied the bed.
“Upon seeing the live camera feed capturing the accused’s acts in the victim’s bedroom, the victim felt very distraught,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Dhiraj G Chainani told the court.
“She was very scared by the thought of having to continue seeing the accused in the flat while they remained co-tenants.
“She was also afraid and confused about having to make alternative living arrangements and having to inform the landlord of the flat about the accused’s acts in her room.”
The victim lodged a police report that day.
Mr Dhiraj sought between one and three months’ jail for Nguyen, citing general deterrence as the dominant sentencing consideration for his case.
“The accused’s offence was one which involved him committing acts of a sexual nature in a private space of the victim,” said Mr Dhiraj.
The degree of intrusion into the victim’s privacy was “particularly high”, as he had trespassed into her room, a private space, he added.
His following acts were a “gross violation” of her privacy, said Mr Dhiraj.
“But for the victim discovering the accused’s acts by viewing the live camera feed, there would have been the risk that the victim went on to wear these undergarments,” said Mr Dhiraj, citing the same risk for the victim’s plush toy, which she could have hugged.
For the offence of insulting the victim’s modesty, Nguyen could have been jailed for up to a year, or fined, or both.
