SINGAPORE - An unemployed man was jailed for eight weeks on Wednesday (March 16) for taking upskirt videos of women at the Ministry of National Development (MND) building and elsewhere.

Lim Zhi Hao, 30, a first-class honours graduate in electrical and electronics engineering, admitted three charges of insulting the modesty of a woman and had seven other charges taken into consideration.

The court heard that on Oct 21, 2014, a 26-year-old woman was walking up a flight of stairs on the way to her office at the MND building in Maxwell Road when she noticed Lim walking closely behind her.

She immediately turned around and he quickly retracted his arm. That was when she saw his mobile phone in the camera/video mode.

When asked if he had used the phone to take photos or videos of her, he denied it. She insisted that he played the video, which he did.

On seeing that he had an upskirt video of the woman's inner thighs and underwear, Lim immediately paused the video and started meddling with it.

She snatched his cellphone and told him to follow her to her office where she called the police. Along the way, he tried to snatch his cellphone but the victim shouted and warned him.

Nine other upskirt videos were found in his mobile phone.

The court heard that he had taken a similar upskirt video of a 26-year-old woman at the same building on Sept 15 that year, as well as that of a 29-year-old ex-colleague at Fusionopolis Way on June.

Lim's lawyer Louis Joseph said in mitigation that his client was truly remorseful for his actions, and had sought psychiatric help and counselling.

Lim, who is married with no children, could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined on each charge.