Chinese man held for filming neighbour taking shower

A man has been arrested in Shanghai for secretly filming a woman neighbour taking a shower and then blackmailing her, officials said.

Wang Chao faces charges of extortion for trying to get his neighbour to pay 5,000 yuan (around $780), prosecutors told the Shanghai Daily.

Wang, who lived in a rented house with common bathrooms, heard of a nude photograph blackmail on the news and decided to try something similar, they said.

He sneaked into a bathroom and hid his mobile phone, pointing the camera at the shower. He returned after some time and found his phone had recorded a woman showering.

He copied the video on to a disk, wrote a note demanding 5,000 yuan for the footage and sent them to the woman. The woman called the police and Wang was arrested.