Man allegedly aims laser pointer at woman's eyes on MRT, follows her when she exits at Sengkang station
A woman has lodged a complaint alleging that an elderly man on the MRT aimed a laser pointer at her eyes after she confronted him for pointing it at two other female commuters.
In a post made on March 11 on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group, anonymous user FascinatingSeahorse7487 claimed that her sister, who was on the MRT, had noticed the elderly man "acting very suspiciously".
When two other female commuters entered the train, she allegedly saw the man shining a laser at them with a laser pointer, which he tried to conceal under his bag.
"My sister quickly told the girls to move behind her. But this tua (old person) had the audacity to point the laser straight into my sister's eyes instead," said the woman's sibling. "She confronted him, and he started mumbling nonsense."
A video accompanying the post shows a masked man shining a green laser in the direction of the person recording the clip, scanning the cabin as passengers exit.
In another video, the man is seen standing in the middle of the cabin, while a female commuter glares in his direction.
According to the anonymous user, the man followed the sister when she exited the train. She subsequently reported the incident to the station's staff.
While it is unclear if the original poster was present, they seem to suggest that the man was "still loitering around Sengkang MRT platform, looking around like he's searching for my sister" when the post was made.
They also urged commuters to report him to staff at the station and for women to look out for one another.
Referring to the man's act, the original poster said: "Pointing lasers into someone's eyes is NOT funny. It can seriously damage eyesight. And illegal!
"Singapore is supposed to be safe, but people like this really make you question it!" they added.
Based on the surroundings, it appears the video was taken on a North East Line train heading towards Buangkok station.
Netizens suggest alerting police
The post has garnered over 280 reactions and 95 comments, with many netizens advising the woman and the original poster to report the man to station staff, which the sister purportedly did.
Some suggested handing the matter to the police.
"Too many suffer from mental health (issues). Call the police, they will handle it," said a netizen. Another said: "Call police la – post to (Facebook to) complain, what's the use?"
Some netizens, while disapproving of his actions, expressed sympathy for the man's condition.
"The man looks sick. His hair is thinning and in a mess. Yes, he definitely behaved weirdly. Any friends or relatives of this chap better warn him to behave himself, otherwise he will be shining the laser in a police station," said a Facebook user.
"It's sad. The stress… leads to weird behaviour. I don't condone it, it's scary for victims. But still sad for the man's family. He needs to be caught for help…and monitoring," another said.
Stomp has reached out to SBS Transit and the police for comment.
See something interesting? Contribute your story to us.
Explore more on these topics
