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Man spiked female colleague’s drink in bid to molest her, recorded women in toilet

Hand holding a tablet over a glass of water.
Hand holding a tablet over a glass of water. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — After viewing a video of a female colleague partially naked, a man spiked her drink with a muscle relaxant in an attempt to molest her if she were to become dizzy.

The woman spotted foreign particles in her drink and found that it smelled like alcohol.

She checked CCTV footage and saw the man pouring a substance into her mug, which she had left on a table while she went to a toilet.

The 31-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the victim's identity, was sentenced to 14 months' jail on Friday (9 April) after he pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to administer to the woman a stupefying drug, by pouring the substance containing orphenadrine and paracetamol into her mug, and two charges of insulting the modesty of women.

The latter charges involve 76 illicit videos of women relieving themselves in the toilet. A total of 61 videos – taken in 2019 – are of the same woman he tried to poison.

On 9 October 2019, the woman went to a common toilet. She placed her mug at a table in front of the toilet.

While she visited the toilet, the man poured a mixture of anarex and water, which he had contained in a capsule tub, into the woman's mug and left.

When the woman exited the toilet, she picked up her mug and poured its contents into the sink. She realised then that there were some blue particles in the sink, which came from her mug.

She sniffed her mug and realised it smelled like alcohol. She found the smell suspicious and went to check the office's CCTV footage, which captured the man spiking her drink.

She called the police and and her colleague was arrested.

The police seized the capsule tub and sent it to the Health Sciences Authority for analysis. The substance was found to contain orphenadrine and paracetamol. An analyst stated that orphenadrine is a skeletal muscle relaxant used to relief pain and discomfort used by strains, sprains, and other muscle injuries.

Reported common side effects of the substance include dizziness and restlessness. Paracetamol is a medication used to relieve mild pain, fever, and discomfort associated with common cold and flu.

The man admitted that he had planned to give the woman anarex since August 2019, and that he planned to pour it into her mug at the end of the office hour, hoping that she would drink it after their other colleagues left for the day.

He admitted that if the woman was dizzy or nauseous after drinking the substance, he would use the opportunity to molest her as he did not have that chance if she was in a normal state. He said that he craved to touch her as he had viewed half naked videos of her.

During the course of investigations, the man's mobile phone was found to have 76 video clips of women in the office toilet. Of these, 61 were recorded between 12 July and 9 October 2019 and involved the same woman.

Another two, recorded between 23 July and 8 October 2019, were of another identified woman easing herself. She cannot be named to protect her identity.

For these offences, the man admitted that he had placed his phone in the toilet to record video footage of his colleagues easing themselves for his own viewing.

He admitted watching and masturbating to the videos at home. He would usually place the phone in the afternoon before work ended as he noticed his female colleagues would use the toilet often, before leaving.

Mitigating for the man, lawyer Marshall Lim said that his client was one of five children in a close-knit family.

"Our client is a mild-mannered individual who often experienced difficulty in expressing his emotions to others, especially to those of the opposite gender. He has had two girlfriends and the relationships were unfortunately short-lived," Lim said.

The man previously had romantic feelings for the victim he tried to poison but could not express himself, leading to the offences, the lawyer said.

At the time of the offence, the man was ill and was prescribed some medication by a doctor he visited. He had carried the medicine with him because he was still consuming it.

He decided to use the medication on the woman in a rash act, said the lawyer, who sought 10 months' jail for the man.

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