Ex-NUS student took upskirt video of woman he tailed from MRT station to business school
SINGAPORE — While a National University of Singapore (NUS) student was attempting to film up the skirt of a woman at Haw Par Villa MRT station and again at the university’s business school, he had no idea that he was being followed.
Luah Chao Zhi’s attempt to hide his phone in a clear plastic folder was witnessed by a female NUS student, who later lodged a police report.
Luah, then a third-year Business Administration undergraduate, was expelled by NUS after a disciplinary hearing into the incident, according to his lawyers Ng Kwong Loong and John Koh.
The 23-year-old was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail on Tuesday (24 March) after he pleaded guilty to capturing videos of 27 unidentified women, intending to insult their modesty between April and August last year. He also admitted to capturing an upskirt video of the woman in Haw Par Villa MRT station on 23 August last year.
Three other counts of a similar nature, involving upskirt videos at the MRT station and NUS, were taken into consideration for sentencing.
On 23 August 2019, at about 9.40am, the 21-year-old female witness alighted from a train at the MRT station and took the ascending escalator from the platform level to the exit gantry. While she stood on the escalator, Luah was in front of her and behind another lady who was wearing a dress. The witness noticed Luah fidgeting with his mobile phone in his hand before placing it into his pocket. She suspected that Luah was taking upskirt photographs of the female victim.
The witness decided to follow Luah and tailed him to the next escalator, where she saw him take a clear plastic folder from his backpack. While on the escalator, Luah stood behind the victim again and placed his folder below her dress. Upon seeing this, the witness deliberately walked up the escalator behind Luah in a loud manner to warn him of her approach.
Luah removed the folder when he heard the noise. Seconds later, he placed the folder underneath the victim’s dress again. He removed his folder only when he reached the top of the escalator.
The witness continued to observe Luah as they headed to a bus stop opposite the Haw Par Villa MRT station and boarded a bus. The witness, the victim and Luah then alighted at a bus stop opposite Heng Mui Keng Terrace and walked into NUS Business School.
At NUS Business School, the witness saw Luah tailing the victim to a staircase where he again placed his mobile phone into the same clear plastic folder before putting it under the victim’s dress. Luah failed in this attempt as there were people behind him.
The witness then informed the faculty’s Dean about the incident. She lodged a police report on the same day.
Luah was traced through CCTV footage and determined to be a student of NUS.
His mobile phone and laptop were sent for forensic screening and a total of 31 upskirt videos, taken between 24 April and 23 August last year, were found. The last four videos were taken on 23 August 2019 at known locations – two videos were of the victim at the MRT station, and another two were taken at NUS.
The remaining 27 videos were taken between 24 April and 23 August last year. Luah admitted to the offences during investigations.
Luah has psychiatric conditions: defence
Mitigating for Luah, Ng from Populus Law said that his client was first seen in September 2013 for sexual misconduct. An Institute of Mental Health dated 21 October last year diagnosed Luah with with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and paraphilic interest – voyeurism. He was then given anti-depressants and counselling.
Luah is still receiving treatment from IMH for every three months, and now volunteers at a church.
Referring to Luah’s expulsion from NUS, the lawyer said, “We wish to highlight that Luah has suffered quite a significant punishment over his foolish actions. He understands the gravity of the matter and regrets having to learn such bitter lessons in this manner.” The lawyer sought four weeks’ jail for Luah.
In reply, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Magdalene Huang said that the report did not state that Luah’s psychiatric conditions had impacted his self control.
“The need for rehabilitation is readily displaced by that of deterrence and public interest of protection of the women in society,” said DPP Huang, who added that Luah had followed the victim for a “prolonged time”. She called for an eight-week jail term.
For insulting the modesty of a woman, Luah could have been jailed up to a year, or fined, or both, on each count.
NUS response
In response to queries from Yahoo News Singapore, NUS said it expelled Luah following investigations by the NUS Board of Discipline (BOD) into several allegations of voyeurism committed by him.
“After the BOD hearing in January 2020, the BOD made a decision to terminate the student’s candidature, as his conduct was found to be in severe breach of the NUS Code of Student Conduct. The termination took effect at the end of January 2020,” said NUS, adding that it takes a strong stand against any form of sexual misconduct.
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