Singapore — A warrant of arrest has been issued for a 28-year-old chemical engineering student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) accused of exposing his private parts and sexually stimulating himself in front of a woman at the science library in April last year.
Xiong Jiawei, a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) from China, absconded and has no intention of returning, his former lawyer Gino Hardial Singh said, according to a todayonline report on Tuesday (Dec 12).
An earlier statement by an NUS spokesperson in 2019 said that action had been taken by the university against Xiong and that it took a serious view of “any misconduct” by students.
This included suspension for two semesters, mandatory counselling and a mandatory psychiatric assessment. He would also need to be certified medically fit before he could resume his studies after the suspension.
Xiong was charged in October 2019 with insulting the modesty of a woman.
His charge has since been reduced to committing an obscene act in public, which carries a jail term of up to three months, or a fine, or both.
The arrest warrant for him was issued on Oct 26, although no reason was given as to why it was given this year. The warrant was subjected to a review on Monday (Dec 7) in chambers at the State Courts.
Another review for the arrest warrant will be in June 2021.
According to the todayonline.com report, Mr Singh discharged himself as Xiong’s counsel during the last review in late October. He told the court that Xiong had left Singapore on Aug 31 without informing him.
He added that when he pressed Xiong on Oct 21 for his return date, the latter said he did not intend to come back. /TISG