'He's trying to get really close to me': Woman films man at Paya Lebar MRT after he allegedly harasses her, asks for her number

A woman decided to film a man after he allegedly harassed her on the train and refused to leave her alone despite rejecting his advances.

TikTok user spellcasterr777, who wanted to be known only as Sofia, uploaded footage of the incident on Thursday (July 24), which has since gone viral and garnered nearly 390,000 views as at Friday.

"This guy is currently harassing me, and he's trying to get really close to me," Sofia says as she films herself and the man while on the escalator at Paya Lebar MRT.

He appears to be standing on the step right behind her, and is seen using his phone to cover his face.

According to her caption, he had been staring at her and her friends "the entire train ride" and that he continued doing so despite requests to stop.

Speaking to AsiaOne on Friday, she said the incident took place on Thursday when she and two friends were headed towards Paya Lebar. 

They had initially boarded the train at Bugis, when her friend noticed a man continuously staring at them.

He then got up from his seat and walked towards them, after which he continued staring at them.

"I decided to tell him to stop staring at us because it's making us uncomfortable," she said, adding that she made sure to say it loud enough for others in the train to notice.

She noted that commuters stared at them and the man, but did not step forward to help or confront him.

Even after alighting at Paya Lebar station, he continued following them, and followed her down the escalator when she got separated from her friends.

"He pressed his body against mine and demanded my number," she wrote, adding that he continued to pursue her down the escalator and shoved his phone towards her despite a clear rejection.

She then resorted to filming the man, in attempts of getting him to leave her alone.

He continued to shield his face with his phone while Sofia filmed him, and eventually walked off.

Many netizens rallied behind Sofia in the comments section, praising her.

Some encouraged her to make a police report, while others advised her to approach station staff for help if such instances happen again in the future.

But she said she has not filed a report. 

Others were appalled by the incident, while some commenting on similar experiences on public transport.

"I had an incident like this at Paya Lebar too... Good on you for calling him out! Please stay safe," one netizen said.

At the same time, some questioned the authenticity of Sofia’s video, accusing it of being staged.

"Is this a prank?" one netizen asked.

She refuted the claims, asserting that it was a true case of harassment and posted an update on Friday saying that she would upload a full video about the incident to dispel any speculation and negative comments.

[[nid:741081]]

dana.leong@asiaone.com