Electrician jailed for swallowing memory card after taking upskirt video

SINGAPORE - A Malaysian electrician was jailed for three months on Wednesday for swallowing a memory card after he had used his mobile phone to capture a video recording of the underneath of a woman's skirt.

Koo Kiat Boon, 25, admitted to insulting the modesty of a 28-year-old woman and destroying an electronic record on board SBS Transit service No. 170, along Woodlands Road on Sept 3 this year.

Investigations showed that while he was taking the bus home at about 7pm, he saw the victim, a Malaysian, standing in front of him and found her pretty.

Since the bus was very crowded, he decided to take the opportunity to take an upskirt video of the victim, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelly Ho.

He took out his Sony Xperia mobile phone, switched it on in recording mode, bent down a little and stretched his left hand underneath the victim's skirt.

Another bus commuter, a 25-year-old Malaysian national, saw what he was doing and grabbed his hand. Koo ignored him and meddled with his phone, trying to delete the video.

When the witness tried to get Koo's mobile phone, Koo swung his arms around to prevent him from taking his phone. The cellphone dropped.

Koo then squatted on the floor and smashed the cellphone repeatedly against the floor, hoping to damage it to conceal the evidence of his crime.

The phone was bent in half with the back exposed, and Koo removed the memory card and placed it inside his mouth.

At Woodlands checkpoint, the bus driver honked at police officers on duty for help. Koo was arrested.

His lawyer Richard Lim said Koo had committed the offences impulsively in a moment of folly. He said Koo, who has a two-year-old son, had learnt a bitter lesson and paid a heavy price for it.

District Judge Hamidah said destroying evidence to avoid prosecution was far more serious than the insulting modesty offence.

Koo could have been jailed for up to one year and fined for insulting modesty, and up to two years and fined for destroying an electronic record.

elena@sph.com.sg

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