MRT train window reflection apparently showed man aiming camera at teenage tourist

A woman confronted a man on the MRT train on Aug. 2 who allegedly took photos of her grand-niece without consent.

Speaking to Mothership, Evelyn's 19-year-old grand-niece Alice (not her real name), visiting Singapore from Scandinavia, was taking the MRT along the North East Line with her family and relatives that evening to have dinner.

At about 7:10pm, Alice's younger sister "Carrie" saw Alice in a man's phone camera screen through the reflection in the train window.

She also noted the man's strange facial expressions and suggestive eyebrow-raising.

Confrontation

Evelyn said she stormed up to the man immediately when she found out.

Standing in front of him, she asked if he took a photo of Alice, pointing at her grand-niece behind her.

The man, who wore a black cap and red shirt, did not respond at all, she recalled. He lowered his head, then looked up again at Evelyn and her family.

"He looked guilty," she said.

As he looked quite fit and muscular, she did not want to start a violent confrontation, and walked away afterwards.

He quickly headed to the train doors and got off at the next stop, Serangoon.

Alice cried and broke down on the train, feeling that she was violated, according to Evelyn.

The rest of the family were stunned. Evelyn was the only Singaporean in the group of seven — the other family members were in Singapore on holiday from Australia and Scandinavia.

Reporting the incident

None of the other commuters in the train helped the family during the incident, according to Evelyn.

But someone suggested afterwards that they should report what happened to the MRT station control staff and make a police report.

When they spoke to the staff at Little India station, where they alighted, the staff similarly advised them to report the incident to the police.

However, the staff apparently told the family they would have to wait about four to five hours for the police to come, and they could not afford to wait that long due to their dinner plans.

Before the man had got off the train at Serangoon, one of the people in Evelyn's group snapped a photo of him, and the MRT station staff took a photo of this.

"We are not sure what they did with it, but our intention was for them to have a record and a photo at least, in the event someone else shares a similar incident," Evelyn told Mothership.

She asked the staff what they would do if her family had been able to bring the man to them, and they replied they would help to detain him until the police arrived.

The group eventually left the station without making a police report.

On Aug. 2, Evelyn told Mothership that the family was letting Alice's mother decide if she was comfortable about making a report as they would be leaving Singapore soon.

How to react?

Recounting the incident, Evelyn said that her family had been unsure how to react in such a situation.

She called for signs on MRT trains informing passengers what they should do when they encounter acts such as voyeurism.

"Sometimes we are too stunned and paralysed to act," she said.

She also wondered if it was legal to demand to see the alleged photos taken and force the man to delete them.

"Our concern is how often this man has taken photos of unsuspecting girls and women and maybe even used the photos in inappropriate settings and for nefarious purposes."