Man allegedly takes over 20 photos of female traveller and makes ‘disgusting comments’ during Indonesia trip
A woman who was leading a tour for a group of strangers in Indonesia said she discovered a male traveller had secretly taken 20 to 30 photos of another participant and made “disgusting comments” about her.
After confronting him, she said she “grabbed his phone and ran” while taking photos of the evidence before reporting the incident to the tour agency.
Christie Cheah, 26-year-old co-founder of Cat Treks — a female-only travel company in Singapore — recounted the incident in an Instagram post on July 30.
In the post, she said that she was leading a trip to Mount Bromo and Ijen, two volcanoes in Indonesia, with a mixed-gender group of strangers.
Towards the end of the trip, one of the participants told her that he had seen another participant secretly taking photos of one of the female travellers in the group.
Cheah devised a plan in which two male travellers would casually ask to see his phone. If they uncovered photos of the woman, they would call Cheah over.
“A few minutes later, my phone rang — they indeed had found photos of her,” Cheah recalled.
20 to 30 photos allegedly found on man’s phone
The man “explained nervously” that he merely wanted to show his friends who he was travelling with, but Cheah pointed out that he had already asked to take multiple photos with the woman throughout the trip.
Sensing something was amiss, she asked to see his private chats, which she said revealed 20 to 30 photos of the woman in the first chat she opened.
“Alongside were messages commenting on what she was wearing, claiming she was dressing for attention, bragging about how she had followed him back on Instagram,” Cheah said.
A screenshot of a message allegedly from the man read: “I taking pics of my friend, illegal meh?”
Another said: “I think she purposely wear until like that.”
In a third message, he appeared to be reporting on the woman’s attire and what she was doing.
“He was basically commenting on her body a lot because she was an influencer and that he now had access and was able to be in close proximity with her,” Cheah told Stomp.
The photos included candid shots of the woman as well as photos of her posing for photos.
Tour guide grabs phone, documents evidence
What happened next “felt like a scene right out of a movie” for Cheah.
She said she grabbed the man’s phone and ran, taking photos of the evidence while two of her friends held him back.
After saving the evidence on her phone, she deleted them from the man’s device and reported the incident to the tour agency, which agreed to ban him from all future trips.
‘This wasn’t the first time’: Man’s friend apologises
Cheah added that one of the man’s close friends apologised and admitted that “this wasn’t the first time” — something that she felt was problematic.
“If you stay silent, you’re helping him believe it’s normal, which also makes you part of the problem,” she wrote, urging others to call out unacceptable behaviour when they see it.
She also expressed gratitude for the participant who alerted her to the issue.
‘It was the betrayal of trust’: Woman speaks out
The female participant, whose photos were taken, commented on the Instagram post, saying she was aware that the way she dressed might “invite different opinions”.
However, what struck her was the betrayal of trust by the male traveller.
She said she had befriended him because he was “socially awkward”, but he had instead violated her trust.
“I left the bromo trip with far more negativity than I ever wanted to. I signed up to create memories, not to walk away questioning the intentions of someone I had trusted,” she said.
Cheah told Stomp that the man sent a “lengthy apology message” to the woman, and was “pretty remorseful” after the incident.
“Just because something isn’t illegal, doesn’t mean it’s okay,” she added in her post. “None of that is harmless, so let’s stop normalising it.”
Stomp has reached out to the female participant for comment.
In a separate incident, an elderly man was accused of taking unconsented photos of an influencer during a pickleball session.
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