Man allegedly urinates on Outram Park MRT escalator handrail
A 41-year-old man was arrested for being a public nuisance after he was witnessed urinating on the handrail of an escalator at Outram Park MRT station on Jan 10.
In a post on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group on Jan 11, user Stella Kee said that her friend had witnessed a man walking to the escalator handrail and urinating on it, near Exit 3 of the station, at about 10pm on Jan 10.
She also shared a three-second video of a man in a black T-shirt and grey pants standing near the handrail.
Describing the incident as “disturbing”, she said one of the witnesses rushed to the nearest passenger service counter to report the issue, while another kept an eye on the man.
However, just as one of the witnesses was about to confront the man, he noticed that he was being watched and left using the lift, she added.
“Upon closer inspection, the entire handrail of the escalator was contaminated with his urine,” she said.
In response to The Straits Times’ queries, the police confirmed that a report was lodged and said that they have established the man’s identity.
“Given the egregious nature of the act, the man was arrested for public nuisance,” said the police.
In her post, Ms Kee also noted that her friend was told that Exit 3 falls under the jurisdiction of SBS Transit, after the incident was reported to SMRT staff. Outram Park MRT station is an interchange on the East-West Line, North East Line (NEL) and Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement on Jan 12 that it was aware of the Facebook post about the incident, which occurred near one of the NEL exits.
“SBS Transit staff promptly arranged for the affected area to be cleaned and lodged a police report,” it added.
Elaborating on the actions taken by SMRT and SBS Transit staff after they were alerted to the case, LTA said the member of public had wanted SMRT staff at the TEL station to use their CCTV system to identify the culprit.
However, SMRT staff explained that the CCTV at the NEL Exit 3 belongs to SBS Transit, which is the operator for NEL, and could not be accessed from the TEL passenger service centre.
LTA added that SMRT staff had immediately alerted SBS Transit about the CCTV footage, and this allowed the police to quickly identify and arrest the man.
“LTA and the transport operators strongly condemn such antisocial behaviour, which not only defaces public spaces but also poses health and sanitation concerns for commuters,” the authority said.
Such an action is unacceptable, and LTA will work with the police to push for the maximum possible penalty to be taken against the culprit, it added.
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