A 17-year-old Nanyang Technological University (NTU) student expelled after he allegedly used his phone to record a video of a woman who was taking shower on campus. The accused, who is charged for outrage of modesty of a 20-year-old woman, appeared in court on Monday, December 2 as he allegedly committed the crime on August 12.
NTU expelled the student
As per a spokesperson from NTU, after the authority came to know about the incident they expelled the Chinese national Han Shiyu in October. As per The Straits Times, the spokesperson also said that the university "takes a zero-tolerance approach towards harassment and takes all cases of misconduct involving harassment seriously."
Sexual misconduct case
It should be mentioned that NTU has sent internal circulars to their students after the 23-year-old student Monica Baey of National University of Singapore (NUS) sought tougher action against the man who filmed her when she was taking her shower in her hostel. After the most controversial NUS incident, NTU's Student Life team stated that they have strengthened the policy and procedures related to such harassment cases.
One of the top universities in Asia, NTU stated that the revised policy to ensure the security of its students inside the campus which was implemented in January this year includes what to do and where to seek help if someone becomes a victim of harassment. The institution also introduced a similar policy for its employees. The University is also looking for the implementation of an online module on anti-harassment in July during the orientation program to its freshmen and student organizers.
Steps taken by NTU
In a newsletter, NTU stated that the policy and procedure ensure that all harassment reports "will be thoroughly investigated and dealt with under the University's disciplinary procedures. Anyone facing or witnessing harassment should report it immediately."
It also added that in case of harassment, NTU students may call the security hotline number, the Director of Student Affairs, or they can talk to any professor or official to seek assistance. The university assured that due support will be provided by the counsellors from the University Wellbeing Centre and by the respective school's pastoral care team. They also asked students to go and explore the workplace harassment policies.
NUS Peeping Tom case
Monica Baey, who reported that sexual misconduct case, took to her Instagram account on April 19 seeking tougher action, prompting the institution to react immediately and a panel to conduct disciplinary proceedings and review the case. She wrote on her social media post that even though she filed a police complaint and a CCTV footage was taken as evidence, the outcome of the entire investigation was a 12-month conditional warning to the accused, which she did not find justified and urged for real action against the man who filmed her when she was inside hostel's washroom.
