Shocking Case of Invasion of Privacy

SINGAPORE: A shocking case of invasion of privacy unfolded when a 29-year-old Malaysian woman discovered that her personal items had been disturbed during her work hours. Concern for her safety led her to install a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in her room.

The Disturbing Discovery

On February 19, 2025, she was horrified to see her flatmate, 38-year-old Nguyen Van Hao, a Vietnamese man living in the same flat with his wife, trespassing into her space and engaging in lewd acts with her belongings. This unsettling behavior lasted approximately 16 minutes as documented by the live feed.

Legal Consequences

Nguyen was subsequently sentenced to 10 weeks in jail after pleading guilty to one count of insulting the victim’s modesty. A second count of trespass was considered during his sentencing. Due to a gag order, the identity of the victim has been protected for her privacy.

A Pattern of Intrusion

The series of strange violations began at the start of the year when the victim noticed that her belongings were consistently out of place—despite the fact that she was the sole occupant of the room. Alarmed by these peculiar occurrences, she took precautionary measures by installing the security camera on February 16.

The Gruesome Footage

Three days later, she received a notification while at work indicating that motion was detected in her living space. Upon reviewing the footage, she saw Nguyen enter her room around 8:28 am, fully aware that her door was unlocked. Disturbingly, he began to smell her undergarments and engaged in explicit acts, even donning the victim's underwear.

Escalation of Acts

His actions escalated as he put on a condom and carried out sexual acts with a plush toy belonging to the victim—a bizarre and deeply violating intrusion into her privacy. After completing his lewd acts, Nguyen attempted to restore normalcy by tidying up the room and placing the victim's items back as they were.

Legal Perspectives

This egregious violation was one of the most serious offenses of its kind, committed in the sacred space of a victim's personal life,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Dhiraj G Chainani stated in court, emphasizing the psychological impact on the victim. The fear of having to continue living with her flatmate left her distraught. She was left to navigate her thoughts on how to remove Nguyen from her living arrangements and inform their landlord about this misconduct.

Conclusion and Implications

Following the incident, the victim promptly reported the crime to the police. The prosecutor highlighted the need for a significant deterrent punishment, suggesting that such acts carried a severe potential risk to the victim's emotional and psychological well-being. Nguyen could have faced up to a year in prison, a fine, or both for insulting the victim's modesty.

This case highlights a disturbing trend of personal violations in shared living environments, raising important questions about tenants' rights and safety. As urban living spaces become more cramped and shared, maintaining privacy and security becomes crucial.