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A 27-year-old Singaporean, Mohammed Nor Farizwan Bin Riswan, was sentenced to three weeks' imprisonment on Oct. 26 for forcing a 17-year-old youth to strip naked or face a beating instead, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

He had pleaded guilty to one count of harassment and another count of voluntarily causing hurt.

During the incident, which occurred on Mar. 13, 2019, Farizwan had filmed the victim while he was undressing, then shared the video afterwards to a WhatsApp group chat called "TeamDeliveroo", according to court documents seen by Mothership.

Incident flared up over a staring incident

The victim, who was 17 at the time of the incident, cannot be named because of a gag order.

Court documents further revealed that on Mar. 12, 2019, the victim had a staring incident with a man.

Despite attempts to mediate the matter, the victim subsequently punched the man in a fit of anger.

Afterwards, the man called his cousin who shared the incident on his WhatsApp chat group "Deliveroo" in an attempt to find out more information about the victim.

His cousin's message was then circulated, eventually reaching Farizwan.

The following day, on Mar. 13, 2019, the accused and another individual, Muhammad Danial Bin Mohamed Yashim, showed up at Admiralty MRT after hearing that the victim had been seen there.

Punched the victim once in the face

Upon confirming the victim's identity, Farizwan punched the victim once in the face while Danial kicked him in the neck. Both of them also brought up the staring incident on Mar. 12.

The victim was then brought to a secluded spot at a HDB void deck once the accused and Danial were joined by a third man, Muhammad Azroy Bin Jasni.

Danial also asked three more men to come along to watch a "free show", to which they agreed.

Once all seven of them reached a secluded spot, Farizwan, Danial and Azroy surrounded the victim, while the other three men sat a corner.

The victim was then offered the following choice by Farizwan, Danial and Azroy: receive a beating or to be stripped naked to prove his sincerity in admitting his mistake for punching the man on the prior day.

The victim decided to strip naked to escape the beating.

Court documents further detailed that while the victim was undressing, the accused, Danial and Azroy, harassed him by telling him to remove his clothes, where to walk and how to position himself.

In addition, Farizwan also took out his mobile phone to film the incident while the victim was naked, with his private parts captured on video.

Farizwan then shared the video, about one minute long, to the WhatsApp group chat "TeamDeliveroo."

Video subsequently went viral on Twitter

The video eventually went viral on Twitter, with the victim being shamed by many of his schoolmates who had seen the video.

He lodged a police report at on Mar. 14, 2019, saying that he was approached by a group of guys, with one of them telling him to remove his clothes and shake his buttocks. He also reported that a video of the incident was recorded and circulated to his friends.

The victim also sought medical attention at Woodlands Polyclinic on Mar. 16, 2019, for bruises.

As for the accused, Farizwan was initially not forthcoming during the course of investigation and denied sending the compromising video to anyone on Mar. 25, 2019, when his first statement was recorded by the police.

However, he admitted in his subsequent statement recorded by the police on July 13, 2019, that he had sent the video the WhatsApp chat.

Prosecution: Accused had humiliated and caused distress to the victim

In calling for a sentence of four weeks for Farizwan, the prosecution highlighted in its sentencing submissions that he had humiliated and caused distress to the victim.

Meanwhile, the accused's defence lawyer, Mohamed Hasim, said that Farizwan had since reformed and found meaningful employment in the wake of the incident which occurred more than two years ago, ST further reported.

With regard to the sentences of Danial and Azroy, the former has received 18 months' split probation while Azroy was sentenced to three weeks' imprisonment under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA).

In sentencing Farizwan to three weeks' jail, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt was quoted as saying that his culpability was the same as Azroy.

For being charged with harassment, Farizwan could have been either fined up to S$5,000, jailed up to six months, or been subjected to both.

As for being charged with voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been fined up to S$5,000, jailed for up to three years, or been subjected to both.

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Top photo by Matthias Ang