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Woman Accused Man in MRT of Secretly Filming Her As His Phone Was Between His Legs

2022-04-26 , 2:42 pm

With social media making it incredibly easy for us to report anything we see in our daily lives to the Internet, it’s no wonder that we’re seeing more and more people being caught red-handed for the less-than-ideal deeds that they have committed.

And it seems like the convenience of social media has once again prompted an uproar regarding a recent incident on a Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) train that would have otherwise gone unnoticed if it was not broadcast on social media.

Viral TikTok Video Claims that Man Filmed Woman on MRT

On 14 April, a young woman posted the following video on TikTok.

@rachieeeexwatch 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 🦭

In the caption, TikToker @rachieeeex wrote: “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.”

In her TikTok video, she filmed a man dressed in the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) Smart 4 uniform and claimed that he was filming her, accusing him of voyeurism.

At first, the man seemed to be using his phone like any other normal person would. However, he suddenly put his phone in between his legs, with the camera lens facing outwards and directly towards her.

He also appeared to use his dark-coloured backpack to camouflage his phone by placing the backpack on his lap.

The man’s nametag was not visible in the video, but @rachieeeex managed to capture a shot with him looking right into her camera lens.

And even though it may seem like the Internet would immediately come to the woman’s defence, some users on TikTok begged to differ.

Netizens’ Reactions

As of now, the video has garnered more than 1.5 million views on the video-sharing platform, and there are over 2,730 comments discussing the incident.

Although there were many netizens who supported the woman and started criticising the man for his actions, others took up a different perspective.

Many netizens observed how @rachieeeex did not include any clips proving that the man was filming her, and wondered if it was just a poor, irrational move on her part, given that she could have just changed seats if she really felt that uncomfortable.

She also did not mention how long the entire situation went on for, making it even more difficult for netizens to believe her account of the story wholeheartedly as she did not present enough proof that he was filming her.

TikTok users also felt that it was unfair that the woman painted the man in such a negative light, especially since there was no concrete evidence that the man was engaging in voyeurism.

Others also claimed that she was the voyeur instead, filming people without their knowledge.

Some also came up with more concrete explanations as to why the man’s phone was placed in such an awkward position. Several netizens noted that he was wearing wired earpieces, and hence could have placed his phone upside down so as to not damage the earpiece and lightning slot.

Another TikTok user referenced a past incident, where another TikToker uploaded a video that accused a man of “ogling her” at the gym, but later took the video down and issued an apology instead after realising that he was watching a television programme on the television that was located behind her.

In response to all the comments criticising her and doubting her video’s legitimacy, @rachieeeex wrote a comment saying that she lodged a police report on the day of the incident.

However, she did not share any proof of doing so publicly.

Clarification Video

More than a week after her initial video was posted, @rachieeeex posted another video, clarifying what exactly happened on that day.

@rachieeeexmore clarification abt the incident i posted .♬ original sound – 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐡 🦭

In the clip that lasted almost three minutes, she started off by saying that she did not post the clips out of the intention to get “attention or fame”, and that she “just wanted to raise awareness”.

She also noted that these incidents are “more common than you think” they are, even though society dismisses them most of the time.

“You are not alone if you have experienced this before,” she said.

After that, she then emphasised the importance of taking these incidents seriously instead of trivialising them and victim-blaming.

“Not even just in Singapore but like the whole entire world, and it may not just happen to guys, I mean girls, but it may happen to guys too. And I just want to say that these incidents not only happen to me but to other people too.

“(They) shouldn’t be taken so lightly and that it should be taken more seriously because it does affect our mental health a lot and you shouldn’t invalidate other people’s feelings because you don’t know what they are feeling like,” she spoke.

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She also provided more details about the actual incident, explaining that she boarded the MRT train at Botanic Gardens MRT station while travelling to school.

As most people do after boarding an MRT train, she found a seat and sat down. She then saw the man in the video sit down on the seat opposite her.

After that, she realised that there was a “black thing in between his legs”, which was apparently a phone with its camera facing right at her.

She Saw the Reflection of the Man’s Phone Screen in the Window

In the video, she also added a new point of information that was not known previously.

She claimed that she managed to see a reflection of the man’s mobile phone screen thanks to the window of the MRT train.

This allowed her to be sure that he was indeed recording her.

“That was when I realised that he was taking pictures or videos or whatever of me, and at that point of time when I realised, I was in shock because I have never expected this type of incident to happen to me.

“At least, I thought that I would actually go up and confront him, but I was too scared to do anything. I was just like, frozen,” she recalled.

She also emphasised that she only recorded footage of the man to submit to the police.

“And why I filmed him was because at that point of time I was only thinking about getting evidence for the police and I was holding my phone like this while using the zoom out camera mode,” she added.

However, it seems like the police has yet to get back to her, based on one of her comments in the comments section.

She also posted another comment saying that the man tried to follow her when she got off the MRT train, and that he followed her even though she was walking “really fast” to the control station to report the incident.

Netizens’ Comments

As of now, the clarification video has garnered over 66,800 views, as well as 416 comments.

Most of the comments were much more positive and supportive of @rachieeeex as compared to her previous video, and many praised her for refusing to be silenced.

Others also offered her advice and their sympathy, saying that she should leave the matter to the authorities.

However, there were still many comments that outrightly blamed her, and someone even commented, “xmm just trying to create drama la”.

Others also said that she was reading too much into the man’s actions, and that

Some even came up with excuses for the man, saying that he probably filmed her because she was attractive.

There were also a handful of netizens who felt that she should have blurred out the man’s face, since she claimed that she wanted to create awareness and not drama or fame for herself. They also said that posting his face was “destroying his life”.

In response to these comments, many users supporting @rachieeeex fought back by saying that the man should not be defended, and that nothing gave the man the right or permission to engage in voyeurism.