I was just vlogging, says man arrested for voyeurism at Kallang mall

SINGAPORE — A 22-year-old man was arrested at a mall in Kallang for voyeurism on April 7, after he allegedly took videos of women at a weekly thrift market on the first storey.

The police said they received a call for assistance at 12 Kallang Avenue — where Aperia Mall is located — at about 4.10pm. Investigations are ongoing.

The mall is host to The Luggage Market, a weekly thrift market held every Sunday.

The man's suspicious behaviour was noticed by two women who were running a booth.

One of them, a 23-year-old undergraduate who declined to be named, told The Straits Times that the man was browsing through clothes they had put up for sale at about 3.30pm.

She was busy tending to customers when her friend noticed the man's mobile phone was "angled weirdly", as he bent over to have a closer look at the clothes.

It was only when her friend asked to swop spots with her to catch a glimpse of his phone's screen that she realised something was amiss.

Aware that they were on to him, the man attempted to walk away. As he was doing so, they saw that his phone was poised to record videos.

That led to a confrontation, during which the man denied taking any videos. However, he later said he was vlogging when the women questioned him further.

"He repeatedly asked us if we wanted to make it a big deal, and that just made us angrier," she recounted.

Eventually, he agreed to show the women the video he took, but she said he still remained uncooperative, even pretending he could not find the album in which the video was saved.

Instead of one video, the women found several and said they were offended by the content.

Security officers arrived shortly after being called by a staff member of The Luggage Market, and asked the man what he was doing. They also called the police after checking with the women if they wanted the police involved.

The police's annual crime statistics, released on Feb 19, showed that cases of voyeurism were on the rise.

There were 476 such cases reported in 2023, a 12 per cent increase from the 424 cases reported in 2022. The top three locations where voyeurs struck were residential premises, shopping complexes and on public transport.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.