In response to his ex-girlfriend’s decision to end their relationship, Tham Quan Hui reacted aggressively by confronting her at her workplace, assaulting her physically, and causing her to tumble to the floor. The 29-year-old man was found guilty of five charges in total, including the distribution of private pictures of his former partner to her colleagues and superior, as well as violating a personal protection order by strangling his father.
Tham, who was unemployed at the time, was sentenced to 14 months and 10 weeks of imprisonment on Tuesday (July 18), with twelve additional charges taken into consideration during his sentencing. The victim’s identity has been withheld as per a court-imposed gag order.
The Incident
The court learned that on March 22 of the current year, Tham aggressively approached his ex-partner outside her place of work, insisting on a conversation.
During the confrontation, Tham seized the woman’s belongings, including her mobile phone, which was her means of communication with her family in Vietnam. Tham further assaulted her when she splashed warm coffee on him in an attempt to retrieve her phone.
As detailed by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Huo Jiongrui, Tham reacted violently, delivering two kicks to her abdomen and a shove to her head, which resulted in her falling to the ground. Tham absconded from the scene with her mobile phone.
Later that day, the woman’s manager and employer contacted Tham to negotiate the return of her mobile. The parties agreed to exchange the phone for all the gifts Tham had bestowed upon his ex-girlfriend during their relationship. However, Tham failed to show up for two prearranged meetings.
From March 22 to 24, Tham invaded his ex-girlfriend’s personal space by accessing her WhatsApp and Telegram accounts, utilizing her SIM card to reset both applications on his device and log into her accounts. As he was in possession of her SIM card, Tham was able to receive the one-time PINs to validate his access into her accounts.
Disturbing Act of Revenge
On March 23, Tham took a drastic step, deliberately sharing five intimate photographs and a 12-second explicit video of his ex-girlfriend to her company’s group chat, comprising 12 other members, including her manager, boss, and business associates. As per DPP Huo, while the materials dated back to when the couple was still together, Tham disseminated them with the intention to disgrace and “teach her a lesson.”
Tham further antagonized the group chat members with provocative messages about the pictures, specifically targeting the victim’s manager with a series of menacing messages and calls. To add to his ex-partner’s humiliation, Tham altered her Telegram profile picture to various explicit photographs of her, thereby making them visible to all her contacts.
Alarmed by the threats, both the victim and her manager opted to stay overnight in their two-storey office building. Tham’s harassment didn’t stop there, as he paid a visit to the office, attempting to force his way into the second floor by aggressively striking the door repeatedly with his elbow and foot, while the women barricaded the door from the inside.
Tham’s onslaught resulted in significant damage to the office door. He then loitered outside the premises in hopes of spotting his ex-girlfriend but was apprehended by security staff from a nearby building when he tried to escape. Tham was officially arrested by police on March 24.
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