SINGAPORE: A 27-year-old man secretly recorded intimate videos of his ex-girlfriend and threatened to send them to her family and friends.
Aaryan Raina Gobinath was jailed for 14 weeks on Monday (Dec 23) after pleading guilty to one amalgamated charge of making such threats when he knew this would cause the victim distress.
Another amalgamated charge of making intimate recordings of the victim without her consent was considered for sentencing.
The victim’s identity is protected by gag order. She was previously in a relationship with Gobinath, and they remained friends after breaking up.
The court heard that Gobinath secretly made two intimate videos of the victim by using the screen recording function during video calls with her in October 2022.
He also recorded two intimate videos of himself with the victim in October and November 2022.
Except for the November 2022 recording, the other three videos were made without the woman’s consent.
Gobinath quarrelled with the victim on Nov 19, 2022. In a text message, he threatened to send her friend the intimate video he had recorded of them earlier that month, which the victim knew about.
On another occasion on Dec 14, 2022, they spoke via a video call and Gobinath was enraged that the victim said he was “dead to her”, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gabriel Lee said.
Gobinath asked the victim to check if her friends had seen intimate videos of her, naming two of her close friends in particular.
He said he would “embarrass the s*** out of” her, that he would also send her intimate videos to her brother, and that he would send every video clip that showed her private parts.
On Mar 10, 2023, Gobinath questioned his ex-girlfriend about her account on a dating app, and said she was “daring” him when he had intimate videos and screengrabs of her.
He sent her a link to a Google Drive containing the four intimate videos. That was when the victim found out about the three secret recordings, and became alarmed.
Later, Gobinath sent her a snippet from the November 2022 video followed by her mother’s phone number.
The victim perceived this as a threat, and she ignored his messages and blocked his number.
Using a different messaging app, Gobinath sent the victim another snippet from the video, and threatened to send it to her parents and brother.
The woman made a police report the next day.
The prosecution sought 15 to 18 weeks’ jail, while the defence asked for the lowest possible sentence.
Gobinath’s lawyer Mr Rajan Supramaniam said his client regretted his actions and had voluntarily sought counselling with a pastor for anger management.
The lawyer said Gobinath had also written an apology letter to the victim, and that his work and income had been affected by the case.
The punishment for threatening to distribute intimate images of another person without consent is up to five years in jail, which may come with a fine, caning or both.
As Gobinath’s charge was amalgamated, he could have faced up to double the penalties.
