Breakups can be difficult and heart-wrenching to deal with, especially if a couple has been together for a long time.
However, this does not justify crossing the boundaries of the other party and invading their privacy.
A 48-year-old man was charged with insulting a woman’s modesty for installing a pinhole camera in his ex-girlfriend’s room and capturing nude videos of her.
On Tuesday (5 Jul), he was jailed for eight weeks, with two other similar charges considered for sentencing.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the man and the victim shared a room in Farrer Park when they were still together.
After seven years as a couple, they broke up in Sep 2019, and he moved out. However, he continued to have access to it as he remembered the password for the lock.
In October that year, he installed a pinhole camera inside the room by hiding it among the luggage. He covered it with a black sheet used to keep dust away.
The victim discovered it in November when she took out the luggage to pack her belongings.
As she looked through the videos recorded, she realised that she appeared nude in several clips.
TODAY reported that the man planned to marry his then-girlfriend until he discovered she had brought another man into their home without his knowledge.
Before the incident, the couple had installed a CCTV outside their flat to keep an eye on it when they weren’t home.
The camera recorded the moment when the victim entered the house with another man.
She denied the accusation when he confronted her about it, causing him to feel “greatly saddened and jealous”, presumably leading to their breakup.
His lawyer, Chung Ting Fai, said,
He felt betrayed that the victim would bring another man into their home in complete disregard for their close-knit relationship cultivated over the seven years in which they have been staying together.
Therefore, he installed the pinhole camera to ascertain if she was bringing another man home.
Mr Chung sought four weeks’ jail for his client, telling the court that the man “acted on his emotions”.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Shao Yan asked for two months’ jail, citing other similar cases that resulted in three months’ jail for the offenders.
He had calibrated the proposed sentence downwards because of the accused’s plea of guilt and notice.
In response, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt asserted that it was “nonetheless an intrusion of privacy”.
Eventually, the man was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail.
When going through a breakup, it is normal for anyone to experience intense, overwhelming emotions.
However, there is no excuse for intruding into someone else’s privacy, especially at home, where they are meant to feel safe and secure.
Hopefully, the victim will get all the support and help she needs to heal from the psychological effects of this incident.
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Featured image adapted from Fine Art America for illustration purposes only.
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