Social service worker indicted for spraying capsaicin on toilet paper, secretly filming women

A man in his 20s has been indicted on charges of spraying capsaicin — the compound that causes the burning sensation in chili peppers — on toilet paper in a women's restroom and secretly filming its users.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Second Division for Women and Children's Crime Investigations, led by chief prosecutor Park Ji-na, indicted the social service worker, identified only as A, 21, on June 2 on charges of bodily injury and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.

A is accused of entering a women's restroom in a commercial building in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of April 26 and spraying capsaicin on toilet paper stored there, injuring one woman.

Capsaicin causes intense pain and temporary paralysis when it comes into contact with the eyes, skin or respiratory tract.

Police responded after a woman who had used the restroom reported experiencing pain, collected the toilet paper and launched an investigation. A turned himself in on April 28 and was taken into custody.

During the police investigation, A was found to have broken into the same restroom seven times over roughly three months beginning in January, installing a miniature hidden camera and secretly filming four women using the toilet.

A claimed the substance on the toilet paper was adhesive he had used to install the camera, but the National Forensic Service confirmed it was capsaicin. He was detained on May 21 and indicted on June 2.