26-year-old Edwin Chow Rui Xiong in Singapore targeted long-haired women, and he was arrested after cutting a passenger’s ponytail when he was sitting behind her in the bus.
Edwin kept the hair in a plastic bag so that he could smell it later, which made him sexually aroused.
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A Singaporean man was caught cutting a woman’s hair while on a bus to “sniff it later”
On 3 August 2025, Chow boarded bus service 185 in Dover and sat on the upper deck. He then saw a woman with a ponytail board the bus and was sexually aroused by her long hair.
He purposely got himself a seat behind her, took out a pair of scissors, and cut her ponytail, which he secured in a plastic bag for him to sniff later.
The woman noticed what was going on, so she turned around to confront Edwin, who remained silent. She then reported the matter to the bus driver, and the police were also called.
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More scissors and more plastic bags with hair
Upon investigation, 5 pairs of scissors and several plastic bags with hair were found in Edwin’s bag. He admitted feeling sexually aroused when sniffing the hair, which led him to keep them in his bags, so that he could sniff them when he needed, as per reports by The Straits Times and Shin Min Daily News.
In court, where Edwin appeared via a video link, he stated that he had “nothing” to say during the mitigation. When asked again, Edwin said,
“I wish to have a lighter sentence, as I have a doctor’s appointment at the Institute of Mental Health next week.”
Edwin was sentenced to two months and two weeks’ jail on 11 September 2025, after pleading guilty to using criminal force with the intent to outrage modesty and being armed with instruments for cutting.
Also read: 21yo M’sian Student Promoting Her Book on Sexual Abuse Gets Told Her Outfit is ‘Sexually Arousing’
