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An 18-year-old woman in Singapore took to TikTok recently to call out a male MRT commuter seated directly opposite her on the train, who was seen behaving in a peculiar fashion.
The young man, dressed in a Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) uniform, but whose name tag was not visible, looked as if he was secretly filming the woman as he had tucked his phone in between his crotch with the camera lens pointing outwards.
The two TikTok videos (first and second here and here) of the incident by the young woman, who refers to herself as Rach, were posted on her account with the handle @rachieeeex.
@rachieeeex watch till the end ‼️ this guy had filmed me from botanic gardens to bukit panjang mrt and i hope people like you rot in hell and get the punishment you deserve . stay safe everyone 🤠
♬ original sound - 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐡 🦭
The videos subsequently sparked a heated debate on the platform, as it clearly showed the man behaving awkwardly, but lacked concrete evidence of any wrongdoing.
The woman was, in turn, accused of spying on the man instead and causing his reputation to be damaged.
In response to Mothership queries, Rach provided more details regarding what happened before, during and after the train ride.
She has also confirmed that a police report has been lodged.
Her side of the story
According to Rach, the incident took place between 8:40am to 9am on April 14, which was the day that Rach's initial TikTok post was uploaded, and six days before her 18th birthday -- she was still a minor when the alleged voyeuristic act occurred to her.
She said she was waiting to board the train at Botanic Gardens MRT station, and had noticed the man in the uniform standing about three doors away from her.
He then tailed her.
She added: "When he noticed me, he started walking towards my direction and ended up opposite me at the same MRT door. When I went in the train, I proceeded to find a seat, which was one door away from the door I came in from."
"It was like the guy in the video was waiting for me the find a seat. So, when I sat down, he then sat opposite me. His behaviour was suspicious to me and I felt uneasy but it was just a MRT seat."
"However, after the train left the station and me already being suspicious of his behaviour, I then noticed a “black thing“ at his crotch. It took me a while to realise it was a phone."
Why she didn't change seats
Viewers of her TikTok videos had commented that the train carriage appeared empty at the time and said Rach could have changed seats by moving to other vacant ones available if she was uncomfortable.
However, she explained that she was already feeling "scared" at that time, and feared she would "reveal more" of herself as she would have to uncross her legs if she stood up to move to another seat.
She said she was wearing her school skirt at the time, and there were apparently no other passengers who noticed what was going on.
Other commenters who watched the videos did defend Rach, saying it was not her prerogative to move as she had every right as a commuter to be where she was, and the onus was on the male passenger to not make her feel unsafe.
Man followed her at Bukit Panjang MRT station
When she arrived at her destination at Bukit Panjang MRT station, Rach claimed she saw the man in uniform looking at her "as if he was waiting for me to stand up".
She added that she "noticed him following slowly", which prompted her to run up the escalator to approach the MRT staff for help.
In the second video on the incident, which Rach posted to address some of the queries that viewers of her first TikTok video had, Rach revealed she made a police report.
@rachieeeexmore clarification abt the incident i posted .♬ original sound - 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐡 🦭
Police report lodged
The station staff she approached first checked on Rach to see if she was okay, and if the man was still following her, she said.
The staff then asked what he was wearing and checked the CCTV to see if he was still at the platform.
They advised her that the "only thing" that she could do was to make a police report and that the police would liaise with the station staff.
Subsequently, Rach made a police report online as she said she had to attend school.
Less than an hour after the report was filed, an investigating officer got in touch with her and requested that she send more evidence to him.
She said a report has also been lodged with the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).
However, to date, some 10 days after the event, Rach claimed that she has yet to receive any updates, despite being told that the investigating officer will contact her.
As to why she decided to post about her experience on TikTok, Rach explained:
I know that police won't exactly take action in these types of cases, which is why I wanted to post it on social media to create awareness on this issue and also help others be more aware of this guy.
Subsequently, people reached out to me and shared their experiences where it had been months or years after they reported (similar incidents) to the police and it was still not solved or that the police didn't get back to them.
Someone also reached out to me to tell me that the incident also happened to them with the same guy that I had posted about, but I'm not sure if it's true.
The aftermath
After her initial TikTok video was circulated widely -- it has been watched over 1.6 million times so far -- Rach said she has received numerous threats and disturbing comments on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and "any social media you can think of".
In response to accusations that she posted the videos with the intention to benefit from it, Rach replied: "No, I'm not posting this to monetise or gain anything from it. Also, why would I want to be famous for allegedly being upskirted? In fact, I don't even have creator tools enabled in TikTok."
TikTok requires users to opt in to become a member of TikTok Creator Next, which would then allow them to explore monetisation opportunities, including receiving tips and gifts.
The teenager added that she is "still traumatised and affected by the incident" and is "afraid to take the MRT alone" after what happened.
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Top collage screenshots from @rachieeeex on TikTok.