A man was caught with more than 500 offensive photos in his mobile phone. This happened after a woman complained against him taking a picture of her chest at a shopping centre.

According to the Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao, the woman, Ms Ye, encountered the man while she was at Vivo City with her husband two months ago.

"I was at Vivo City with my husband to catch a movie when we caught man taking a photo of my chest. My husband managed to catch him before he could escape, but the culprit had already deleted all the pictures in his mobile phone. I was worried that all evidence might have been wiped out." Ms Ye told Lianhe Wanbao.

Ms Ye, 26, told Wanbao that the police did not immediately arrest the man on scene but confiscated the mobile phone instead. The police was able to restore the deleted photos.

She told the newspaper she was asked to go to the Clementi police station to assist in the investigations on her earlier complaint. It was then when she learned that the man who took her photo also had 500 other offensive pictures of women's breasts in his mobile phone.

"The police needed me to assist in identifying any photos of myslef that the man might have in his phone.

"My husband and I were shocked when we were shown the data because there were more than 500 pictures of various women that this man took. All the pictures were of their chests and breasts. From the angle of the shots, I could see that the women in these pictures were not aware that they were victims."

Because Ms Ye's husband was quick enough to spot the man's suspicious behaviour, the culprit managed to take only one picture of Ms Ye.

"The picture he took was very clear, he even managed to capture my face in profile."

She also told the Chinese daily that she was thankful that the restored data on the mobile phone proved the man guilty, and she hopes the culprit will be punished by the law, lest more women fall prey to his perverted ways.

A police spokesman told Lianhe Wanbao that they have identified the main suspect, but have yet to arrest or charge anyone as investigations are sill ongoing.

According to the law, anyone who takes offensive photos of a woman in a public place without the lady's prior consent can be charged for outrage of modesty. If found guilty, the persons involved faces a fine, up to a year in jail or both.