A full-time police national serviceman was jailed for nine months yesterday for taking photos of the bare body of a woman police officer in the shower and deleting six photos of females in the shower in a bid to hide his wrongdoing.
Abdul Qayyum Mohd Hashim, 20, who faced 11 charges, including criminal trespass and theft of a brassiere, admitted to three charges.
While on night duty on Jan 26 last year at Tanglin police divisional headquarters as a station security officer, he asked a colleague to cover his duties as he wanted to relieve himself. He had seen the woman entering the female locker room near the toilet from the closed-circuit television footage.
He wanted to get a chance to speak to the victim, as he was interested in her.
He saw the 21-year-old walking out of the locker room with a towel, soap and some clothing and decided to take photographs of her showering.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelly Ho said Qayyum entered the toilet and held his Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone in his hand to take photographs of the victim showering.
When he heard some sounds which indicated that she was about to finish showering, he put away his phone, grabbed her bra and put it into his pocket. He then walked out of the toilet and put the bra in his bag in the male locker room.
The woman made a police report when she found her bra missing.
Three days later, his superior told him to stay back in the room after a briefing.
Qayyum found it suspicious and deleted six photos he had taken of three female police officers who were showering.
He did this in a bid to conceal the evidence of his wrongdoing.
Earlier, on Jan 22 last year, Qayyum happened to be in the station toilet when he heard sounds of someone showering. He decided to enter the female toilet to take photos of a female officer showering.
Raising his phone above the top of the cubicle, he could see the 21-year-old’s bare body and took three pictures of her back.
The court heard that he viewed them at least twice that week and performed an obscene act once when viewing the photographs.
Qayyum, who had eight other charges taken into consideration, pleaded for leniency. He said he regretted committing the offences and asked for a chance to change.
District Judge Lim Keng Yeow said there were numerous aggravating factors and a jail term was necessary.
Qayyum could have been jailed for up to one year and fined for insulting the modesty of a woman. For perverting the course of justice, he could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
elena@sph.com.sg
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