A man accused of exposing himself at the science library of the National University of Singapore (NUS) last year is now being subject to a warrant of arrest, The Straits Times reported on Tuesday (8 December).
28-year-old Xiong Jiawei was a student at the university when he allegedly committed the offence in front of a woman on 10 April 2019.
Last year, Xiong, a Chinese national and a Singapore permanent resident, was charged with insulting a woman’s modesty. His charge has been reduced to committing an obscene act in public.
Should Xiong be found guilty of committing an obscene act in public, he may face a maximum jail term of three months and a fine.
The matter was reviewed in chambers at the State Courts yesterday.
While the arrest warrant was issued on 26 October this year, the State Courts portal did not indicate why the warrant was issued on that date, ST noted.
Another review was originally slated to take place on 7 June next year.
Xiong’s former lawyer Gino Hardial Singh, however, told TODAY that his ex-client reportedly left Singapore on 31 August without informing them.
“We were only apprised of his whereabouts in China on the morning of Sept 1. We have been in constant touch with him and it has always been his position that he would be coming back to Singapore before his (plead guilty) date,” Mr Singh told TODAY.
It was only on 21 October that Xiong told Mr Singh that he has no intention to return to Singapore after he pressed the student for his return date.
Mr Singh discharged himself as Xiong’s defence counsel during the last review in late October.
NUS earlier said that it had imposed disciplinary sanctions such as a two-term suspension of candidature and mandatory psychiatric assessment and mandatory counselling on Xiong.
A spokesperson for the university also said that NUS has “conducted an internal investigation into the incident and offered pastoral care to the affected students”.
“The disciplinary sanctions meted out by the board of discipline form part of the student’s formal educational record at the university.
“Security measures are also in place to safeguard the well-being of our students on our campuses,” NUS added.
Correction: This article previously reported Xiong as a Singaporean according to the ST report. We have since indicated Xiong as a Chinese national with Singapore permanent resident status according to TODAY’s report.
