You fucking know it is not okay. Don’t touch me! What’s your problem? Don’t you fucking have a girlfriend? Look, I saw.”
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
On January 19, a university student was caught taking unsolicited photos of 2 women, who were sisters, at Siloso beach. When he was confronted, the man initially denied taking photos of the ladies. He even had the gall and temerity to act blur and ask the ladies if they were talking to him.
https://www.tiktok.com/@wakeupsingapore/video/7056267130626493698
He was caught red-handed, and left visibly dumbfounded, when one of the ladies inspected the contents of his handphone and she found 8 to 9 photos that the man had taken of them. In the process, she also found out that the man was attached.
In the video of the confrontation that was published on Instagram, the sister who was filming the confrontation took offence at how the man, even when he was caught red-handed, was still trying to “grab” his sister. In the text that accompanied her video, she wrote:-
This is so upsetting, he didn’t even apologise & still had the audacity to touch my sister like that.
Later, when we ran into him again he moved my sister by her waist and showed no remorse whatsoever.
He also lied to us about his name and, not to mention, he was also at the beach with his girlfriend. Can you believe it?? He confessed that he wanted to share the pictures with his friends.
In the video, the lady who valiantly confronted the man could be heard repeatedly chastising him for his physical advances. In a separate confrontation outside the toilet later that same day, the man was again accused of touching the victims inappropriately.
MAN APOLOGISES AND ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF
After the incident, the man sent the women a lengthy text on Instagram where he unreservedly admitted to and apologised for:-
- taking photos of the duo without their consent with the intent of sharing it with his friends;
- touching the woman without her consent outside the toilet;
- lying by initially denying liability; and
- giving a false name when confronted.
Although he conceded that he seemed “unremorseful and unapologetic” during the encounter outside the toilet, he claimed to have “regretted his actions immediately“.
DISCUSSION ON LEGALITY OF THE MAN’S ACTIONS MISSES THE POINT
In the discussions about the incident online, there were many who missed the forest for the trees. There were a number of users who took pains to point out the fact that what the man did was “not illegal“. Our response is two-fold.
Firstly, and fundamentally, laws are not the arbiters for morality and decency. What is lawful may not always be just, and vice-versa. We should not ground our ideas of what is right and wrong on the law. As Martin Luther King famously wrote in a Letter from Birmingham Jail, there are just laws and there are unjust laws.
Saying that taking unsolicited photos of persons people on the beach and being a creep isn’t illegal adds no value to the conversation. Does basic decency and courtesy really need to be spelt out to you?
Secondly, and this might come as a surprise to some men, but the man’s actions may actually be illegal. Although it is a commonly parroted misconception that taking unsolicited pictures of someone in public settings is legal, that may not be the case after the amendments to s 377BB of the Penal Code in 2019. The reality is a little more nuanced.
Voyuerism is criminalised by section 377BB of the Penal Code, which was amended in 2019. As you can see above, sections 377B(4) and 377B(5) may potentially capture the man’s actions. There is no longer a requirement for a “private act” to be recorded, or for the victim’s breasts, genitals or buttocks to be exposed. Even if they are covered, it appears that an offence still may be made out. The key criterion is whether the recording captures the said body parts or underwear where they would not otherwise be visible.
Take a scenario where one takes pictures/videos of a victim without their consent. Through the recording, the person is able to see the victim’s genitalia (whether covered or exposed). Without the recording, the body parts or underwear would not be entirely visible. The offender also knows or has reason to believe that the victim does not consent.
From our reading of the sections exhibited above, it appears to us that that person’s actions may constitute a criminal offence under sections 377BB(5) or 377BB(6) of the Penal Code. To be clear, this is not a lawyer’s opinion but a layperson’s reading of the statue, but we would love to hear what the legal eagles think.
Be that as it may, we think the main point here should not be pointing out that it may be illegal. It would be a sad day where our innate sense of what is right and just is guided solely by the letter of the law.
There are some things that are just plain wrong, and we do not need the law to tell us that. Taking unsolicited pictures of people is one such thing.
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