A Singaporean who allegedly took videos of women in the toilet here will not be allowed to return to Britain to continue his undergraduate studies at a top university.

This was decided by District Judge Adam Nakhoda yesterday, who also ruled that the 22-year-old's identity will continue to be gagged by the court in order to protect his alleged victims.

In his brief remarks on his decision, the judge said the text messages produced by the prosecution of a conversation between the student and a friend indicated that the former was contemplating remaining overseas.

As this suggested that the accused is a flight risk, the judge revoked permission granted earlier for the accused to leave Singapore to resume his studies.

The accused had made the application on Jan 8, which the judge approved last Friday. The prosecution opposed the decision on Tuesday.

The prosecution had cited text messages that were made known to them after last Friday, in which the accused had discussed plans with a "trusted friend" to abscond and seek asylum in another country.

The conversation took place on Oct 2 last year, before the friend found out that she was among the 12 alleged victims.

In the messages, the accused talked about a "masterplan" involving seeking asylum in another country. In one of them, he said: "I could stay here, but that would be a certain metaphorical death." When asked if he was certain he would be granted asylum, he replied: "Well, that's in the masterplan."

These messages do not indicate that the accused was - as his lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan had contended - referring to committing suicide, said the judge.

On Tuesday, prosecutors also requested the court to lift the gag order on the accused's identity, issued when he was first charged in October last year, arguing that it is in the public interest for his identity to be made known.

The accused faces 19 counts of insulting a woman's modesty and one count of possession of obscene films, allegedly committed as far back as Dec 2, 2015, at various locations including a condominium apartment in Bukit Timah.

So far, 12 women have been identified as his alleged victims, with 10 of them having requested for the accused to be named. Of the remaining two women, one was hesitant, while the other has not been consulted at the request of her family.

Yesterday, the judge noted that two alleged victims have not given their consent. "The primary purpose of the gag order being extended to the identity of the accused... is to protect the identity of the victims... because there was a chance that the identity of victims could be exposed," he said.

As it is likely that the victims could be identified by the public or those around them if the accused's identity were to be revealed, the judge said he decided to maintain the gag order.