Source: Nanyang Technological University & by MS News
On Wednesday (21 Aug), a 34-year-old researcher at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was fined S$8,000 for stalking and violating a protection order of a 29-year-old male PhD student.
The Chinese national student had been assisting fellow Chinese researcher Han Xiaobing on a project when she developed romantic feelings for him.
Despite the student rejecting all her advances, Han persisted, even sending him long messages about her feelings towards him.
Source: Nanyang Technological University
On Wednesday, she pleaded guilty to two charges under the Protection from Harassment Act of unlawful stalking and contravening a protection order, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
In Feb 2021, the student blocked Han from all electronic communications after growing increasingly uncomfortable with the NTU researcher’s persistent sending of messages detailing her feelings towards the student.
Undeterred, Han continued trying to send him messages and even attempted to seek him out in person for the next two years.
This prompted the victim to obtain a protection order against Han on 25 Oct 2023.
Under the Protection from Harassment Act, a protection order prohibits the offender from continuing to harass the victim.
This included preventing Han from continuing her attempts to communicate as well as from following the victim or loitering around them.
Han ignored the order, sending 116 emails to his NTU email account between 25 Oct and 12 Dec 2023, a span of less than two months.
She also physically appeared at his workplace in Fusionopolis on 7 Dec 2023, asking to see him. She left after learning that he wasn’t present.
Five days later on 12 Dec, she returned to the same location looking for him.
This led the student to file a police report.
After being questioned by the police on 18 Dec 2023, she confessed to stalking him but promised to abide by the protection order, reports Today.
This lasted just half a month as on 3 Jan 2024, she visited him again, this time at his office in NTU.
The victim noticed her approaching through a window and told her that he was going to call the police. She left without speaking to him.
In court, Han was handed two charges for unlawful stalking and contravening a protection order. A third charge relating to the protection order was also considered by the judge.
According to The Straits Times, the prosecution noted the frequency of the stalking, having entered his workplace twice and sending 116 emails in just six weeks.
Her actions also caused great stress to the victim. As such, the prosecution requested a fine of S$7,500.
Han was not represented by an attorney and spoke through an interpreter. She claimed to have been unemployed for the past year and eight months because of this incident.
She pled for leniency, alleging that she had only S$4,000 to her name as she had fallen victim to a scam.
The judge, however, highlighted that she had ignored a protection order and even continued stalking the victim after being questioned by the police, showing a lack of remorse.
Due to this, Han was handed a fine of S$8,000. She faces eight weeks in jail if it isn’t paid.
The judge also agreed to let Han pay the rest of the fine in monthly instalments.
Also read: NUS Stalker Allegedly Hacks Into Girl’s Account & Joins Her Church
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Featured image adapted from Nanyang Technological University and by MS News.
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