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Landlord who kept exposing himself to female tenant jailed and fined

A man behind bars.
A man behind bars. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — A landlord who kept exposing himself to a female tenant was jailed for 11 weeks and fined $2,000 on Tuesday (15 June) after he was found guilty of all six related charges.

Over about seven months, the victim would turn around to catch 56-year-old Chan Eng Hui in the buff while he made eye contact with her.

Chan, who has been dealt with for previous incidents of indecent exposure in 2009 and 2010, was found guilty of four charges of insulting the modesty of a woman and two of using criminal force on her.

The victim’s age and nationality was not revealed in court. She cannot be named to protect her identity.

The victim moved into the flat on 1 April 2018, renting a bed space from him for $250 a month. She moved out in January 2019.

Initially, the victim said she was on “talking terms” with Chan, but stopped talking to him after a female tenant informed her that Chan had appeared naked in her room.

Between 10 and 12 May 2018 while both were in the flat, Chan held her hand and said “Go, go, let’s just go eat.”

She rejected him and said “You can just talk and not get touchy”, before going into her room. She did not consent to the touch and felt annoyed by what she perceived to be a disrespectful act.

In the same period, Chan grabbed her as she walked past a sofa in the living room, in an attempt to pull her in his direction. In response, the victim flung his hand away and told him not to get touchy before entering her room.

From end-June to mid-July 2018, while both were in the flat at around 6.30am, the victim was walking out of the kitchen when she saw Chan standing inside the toilet naked with the door open. He was touching his private parts as he made eye contact with her.

Even as the victim asked him what he was doing, Chan continued touching his private parts. Chan’s wife had been sleeping then.

From the moment Chan began exposing himself to her, the victim would use weapons to protect herself and lock the door before sleeping.

A few days later, in the evening, while the victim was washing something in the kitchen, she turned around to see Chan naked again, standing in front of the washing machine. After they made eye contact, Chan smiled and said he wanted to shower in the toilet. Furious, the victim scolded him.

The same act happened between September and October, while the victim was at the kitchen wash basin, prompting the victim to throw a bowl towards him.

Between 1 August and 20 September 2018, at around 6.30am, the victim was leaving the flat when she turned around to see Chan naked. The victim then shouted at him, “You pervert. You like… you enjoy letting people see, is it? Then you should let everyone take a look at you.”

Two audio recordings recorded by the victim and submitted to court captured an exchange between Chan and the victim.

In one recording, the victim says, “Why did you don’t wear your pant when you appeared behind me suddenly?” Chan is heard replying, “You have not agreed to me for so long. You see that fish, you think I can control myself. When you don’t give the fish to the cat, what do you think it will feel? I am a man, you think I am made of wood, is it? You don’t have feeling, but I am a man, I have feeling?”

After 30 December 2018, Chan changed the lock of her bedroom door so that the victim was unable to lock the door. The woman would then use a chair to block the door.

In his defence, Chan claimed that he was wearing his shorts at all times.

The victim eventually reported the matter to the police on 23 December 2018. When asked why she did not do so earlier, she said that she worried it would be troublesome as she was working here, and was concerned that the incident would affect her work permit.

In finding Chan guilty, District Judge Lau Qiuyu described him as “evasive” and his evidence “externally inconsistent”. While Chan initially argued that he was in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with the victim, he later claimed that they were just friends and he found acts of intimacy repulsive.

DJ Lau added that she was unable to accept his claim that he did not intentionally expose himself to the woman.

Chan had claimed that the exposure was accidental as the wind had blown open the toilet door while he was urinating. For another incident, Chan claimed that he had slipped on washing powder and that he hit himself, causing him to stroke his private parts in pain.

When asked for his mitigation, Chan said he had nothing to say. He told the court that he was unable to pay the fine. He will serve two weeks' jail in default of the fine.

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