SINGAPORE - A cleaner operation supervisor was jailed for three weeks on Thursday (Sept 29) for taking an upskirt video of a woman who fell asleep on a bus.

Subramaniyam Supan, 54, pleaded guilty to one charge of intruding into the privacy of the 25-year-old woman by holding a mobile phone between her legs while she was asleep on the upper deck of SBS Transit Service No 7 at Clementi Avenue 5 on May 16 this year.

A similar charge was taken into consideration during his sentencing.

The court heard that the woman boarded the bus at about 7.20pm and sat next to Subramaniyam who sat on the window seat. Shortly after, she fell asleep.

A 34-year-old bus commuter was about to alight at about 8.15pm when she saw Subramaniyam placing his Samsung Galaxy Mega mobile phone between the victim's legs.

Subramaniyam had noticed that the victim's legs were wide open and decided to take advantage of that fact by taking a 20-second long upskirt video.

The witness told the bus captain, who immediately stopped the vehicle. He asked all the passengers to exit before he called the police.

The victim, who was unaware of what Subramaniyam had done, realised what had happened only when informed by the witness and bus captain.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Star Chen sought a sentence of two to four week's jail. She said the offence had occurred on public transport while the victim was vulnerable as she was sleeping in the seat next to him.

Pleading for a fine, Subramaniyam said he was solely supporting his family and regretted committing the offences. A jail term would affect his family life and employment, he said.

District Judge Low Wee Ping noted that the offences were committed in a public bus. He said a jail sentence would deter other foolish people from doing the same thing.

"The mobile phone has been invented to be used for good purpose. Nowadays, it is being used as an instrument of crime,'' he said.

The maximum penalty for insulting the modesty of a woman is one year's jail and a fine.