Singapore — One of the five members of the public involved in subduing a suspect who took upskirt-photos on Friday, November 1, said the death was inadvertent.
The 46-year-old man who allegedly took the upskirt videos of a woman died after he was released by the members of the public who pinned the man down.
The man, who chose to remain anonymous, said he and the other persons in the incident let the man free when he started to vomit.
He told Chinese-language Shin Min Daily News that he ran after the 46-year old man for around half a kilometer, and that he himself had witnessed the suspect taking an upskirt video of a woman at the MRT station at Little India, The Straits Times (ST) reports.
He, along with several others, accosted the man at Niven Road and held him down. But by the time suspect man had begun to vomit, the man who spoke to Shin Min said he had already let go of him.
TISG reported on November 2 that a man had been found dead along Niven Road on November 1. Police had responded to an alert regarding “a case of insulting the modesty of a woman,” since the suspect had reportedly taken upskirt videos of women without their knowledge at the Little India MRT station.
Five people gave chase to the man.
When police arrived at the scene at around 12:45 PM, the man had already collapsed on the ground and was motionless. They attempted to revive him through CPR, and paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were also called to the scene.
But when the paramedics got there, they pronounced him dead on the spot.
Police are currently investigating the incident which they have classified as an unnatural death.
Shin Min Daily News said in a report on Sunday that the man who had spoken to the news outfit said the enormous psychological stress he experienced after the death of the man robbed him of sleep for two straight nights.
He told the Chinese-language daily, “We were only carrying out our civic duty, and only wanted to wait for the police to arrive,” adding that he had also gotten injured in the scuffle with the 46-year-old suspect, whom he said was bigger than he was.
Shin Min also said emotions overcame another man who had helped chase and pin down the suspect when interviewed by the police. /TISG
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Man found dead after crowd detains him for allegedly taking upskirt videos