SINGAPORE — A 34-year-old man went around flats in Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio in search of women’s shoes and masturbated with them to get rid of his stress.

On Thursday (Oct 24), Low Yan Long was given a S$5,000 fine in a district court after pleading guilty to two counts of committing obscene acts in public. Another two such charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

A doctor from the Institute of Mental Health said that Low was not mentally ill, describing his actions as due to his “dysfunctional and sexually deviant way of dealing with his stress”.

The court heard that Low, who worked part-time at a casket company and a fast-food restaurant, was “feeling stressed by work and family matters”.

He would get sexually aroused when he saw and smelled women’s shoes, as he would imagine beautiful women wearing them. He would then masturbate and urinate in them.

Low committed his first offence on Jan 22 this year in Toa Payoh.

When he came across a pair of shoes outside a flat, he picked them up and walked to the staircase landing.

Low went on to unzip his pants and masturbate with the shoes until he ejaculated into them. He then put the shoes on the staircase landing and walked away.

A closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera installed outside the flat captured Low committing the act.

The husband of the woman who owned the shoes made a police report and Low was arrested a week later. The shoes were eventually thrown away.

However, Low did it again on July 28 after he was released on court bail.

He got his colleague at the casket company to drop him off in Ang Mo Kio, before going to a block of flats to look for women’s shoes.

After searching for about 20 minutes, Low came across a pair of red shoes on a rack outside a flat.

He smelled them, unzipped his pants and masturbated with them, before urinating into the shoes. He then placed the shoes back on the rack and left.

Low’s actions were captured on a CCTV camera put up by the shoe owner's neighbour living directly opposite the flat. He was arrested three days later.

For committing an obscene act in public, Low could have been jailed up to three months, fined or both.