Repeat offender, 38, pleads guilty to stealing bras, other underwear drying outside flats
Muhammad Iqbal Mohamed Rafe is due to return to court on Aug 10, 2023 to be sentenced.
SINGAPORE — After noticing three bras drying outside a 10th floor flat, 38-year-old Muhammad Iqbal Mohamed Rafe grabbed them and walked away.
He took the undergarments to another floor to touch and feel them before returning to the 10th floor to place them behind a bench.
About three months later, Iqbal took more women's underwear from outside a different flat.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft on Thursday (July 13) in a district court.
Iqbal had committed a similar offence before.
He was sentenced to jail in 2020 for trespassing into a flat to steal a bra and two sets of panties.
After Iqbal pleaded guilty to the latest offences, Judge Jill Tan called for a mandatory treatment order (MTO) suitability report.
A mandatory treatment order is a community sentencing option offered to offenders suffering from mental conditions that contributed to the offence.
Iqbal will return to court on Aug 10 for sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
On Sept 1, 2021, Iqbal went to the 10th floor of a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block.
He loitered around to look for female bras hanging out to dry outside any of the flats before he finally found three bras hanging outside a unit.
Court documents stated that they were Victoria's Secret bras valued at S$200.
Noticing that there was a closed circuit television footage camera around the area, he went to the camera and tilted it upwards.
He took the three bras and went to the ninth floor of the same block to "touch and feel the three bras" before placing them behind the bench, court documents stated.
A few months later on Dec 27, the man stole more undergarments from another unit.
This included three bras, six to eight panties and one red lace pyjamas, with a total value of between S$180 and S$200.
Iqbal made full restitution of S$400 to his victims on Sept 7, 2022.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ben Tan said that the prosecution did not object an MTO report being sought.
He noted that Iqbal has persistent depressive disorder and that there is a contributory link between that and his conduct.
DPP Tan added that a psychiatric assessment had shown that Iqbal would benefit from psychiatric monitoring and treatment.
For each count of theft, Iqbal could be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
