Man, 59, arrested in Chinatown after woman catches him allegedly committing obscene act: 'Not regretful'

A 59-year-old man was arrested for committing an obscene act in public on Saturday (Aug 15).

He had allegedly masturbated while standing beside a woman, leading her to chase him down and call the police.

The police said in response to AsiaOne's queries that they received a call for assistance at Upper Cross Street at about 4.40pm on Saturday and arrested the man.

The victim said in a Facebook post that same day that she was smoking outside her office when the man approached her space.

"I thought he was feeling hot and shaking his shirt to cool down," she recalled, before realising that the man was exposed and allegedly touching himself.

She shouted at the man, who she said was "still shaking". He subsequently left the scene.

The woman, who gave her name as Cheryl, told AsiaOne this occurred at around 4pm.

Unable to let go of the incident, the 34-year-old later tried searching for the man and eventually spotted him heading towards Hong Lim Market and Food Centre.

The woman said she later tried searching for the man as she could not let go of the incident and eventually spotted him heading towards Hong Lim Market and Food Centre.

After informing a colleague, she ran to stop him and called the police, the Facebook post stated.

"I grabbed him by his collar and scolded him. He apologised and said he was drunk, but I'm not taking that as an excuse," the victim wrote.

"Because not only was he not regretful, he still told me, 'Your ka chng (Hokkien for backside) is so nice', and started staring at different parts of my body."

The woman said that her colleague helped her restrain the man while waiting for the police to arrive.

"I know I did the right thing by making sure this man got caught. Because… what if he does this to some vulnerable girl next time?" she said in her post.

Acknowledging that some had called her actions "reckless", she told AsiaOne she had acted on a spur of the moment: "I was just very angry and wanted to make sure he was caught."

She advised others who find themselves in a similar situation to try and get photographic evidence and shout for help.

"But if you're afraid, nobody is going to blame you," she added.

"Just get yourself to a safe place, take a photo if you can and report it to the police."

Cheryl also decried online commenters who had made remarks about her looks.

"What bothers me is that comments like these can leave an impression on other women who may already feel insecure...and choose to keep quiet when they encounter a pervert," she said.

"This incident has really shown me how insensitive some people can be. The issue was never about how I look. It was about a man committing an indecent act beside a woman without her consent."

Police investigations are ongoing.

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