NTU to install CCTVs in Halls 1, 2 next year

By Sophia Tan

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: VALERIE LAY

NTU plans to install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in Halls of Residence 1 and 2 by March next year, following the arrest of a suspected molester near Hall 1 about two weeks ago.

The University also deployed an additional security officer to patrol Blocks 12 and 13 starting last week, according to Mr Jimmy Lee, Chief Housing and Auxiliary Services Officer.

“We take the safety of our students very seriously,” Mr Lee said in a statement. “As NTU is an open campus, we have various precautionary safety measures that at the same time, balance the students’ wish for privacy.”

Police arrested a 31-year-old man on 18 Nov for allegedly molesting a female NTU student at Hall 1.
The man, who is not affiliated with NTU, was arrested along Nanyang Circle and was charged in court with outrage of modesty a day after his arrest.

For outrage of modesty, one can be jailed for between two and 10 years and caned.

The arrest also follows reports from other Hall 1 residents of an unknown masked man loitering around Hall grounds and attempting to enter rooms on three separate occasions in November.

It is not known if this man was the same as the one arrested.

Sarah (not her real name), a resident from Block 12, told the Nanyang Chronicle that a masked man entered her room on 16 Nov while she and her roommate were asleep.

The 21-year-old, a second-year School of Humanities and Social Sciences student, said she woke up to the sound of someone near her bed at 5.30am. Her suspicions were aroused when the person immediately crouched down beside her chair when she got up.

A blackout had occurred in the Hall due to heavy rain, so she grabbed her mobile phone and shone it at the intruder, whom she described as a “tall and thin” man wearing a fully zipped black sweater with the hood up.

He was also wearing a white mask that covered his face.

When confronted, the man claimed he was checking on residents because of the blackout.

Sarah said: “I did not buy his story, as a security personnel would never enter our rooms without getting permission.”

After repeatedly assuring the man that she did not need help, he left the room.

Unlike rooms in other campus residential halls, which are secured with electric locks, those in Halls 1 and 2 use key locks.

Hall 1 Junior Common Room Committee president Lai Chun Wai said such incidents have occurred before, but is unsure how many there have been.

Despite news of the arrest, Hall residents are still taking precautions to keep themselves safe.

First-year School of Art, Design and Media student Adithi Surya, 19, said she was relieved that a suspect had been caught, but will continue with added safety precautions such as putting chairs in front of her room door.

“We cannot be sure that the person arrested was the same guy who broke into the room, or if he is just one in a group of many intruders,” Surya added.

Mr Lee also reminded students “to be vigilant and to take personal responsibility, by locking their doors at all times, especially before going to sleep, and keeping their valuables safe.”