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SINGAPORE: A woman who was filmed arguing with another person at the Sun Plaza shopping center without wearing a face mask was accused on Saturday (May 9) of using criminal force by the police and multiple charges of verbal abuse.
Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamsamy, 40, was also ordered to be referred to the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric observation and will return to court on May 22.
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A police officer fighting and resisting arrest was charged with one count of using criminal force, and four counts of using abusive words about a police officer and three other people.
All offenses stem from the same incident on May 7, at the Sun Plaza shopping center at 30 Sembawang Drive, according to the charge sheets.
Police previously said in a statement that they received a request for help from a crowd manager at the mall, saying a woman did not cooperate and refused to wear her mask properly.
When the police arrived and asked for his identity, Kasturi allegedly began removing the address tag on his identity card.
According to the charge sheets, she used abusive words about a woman, saying, “Scan the IC, b ****.”
Court documents also indicate that Kasturi cursed the police officer and threw similar vulgarities at another man, calling him an “idiot.”
She is also accused of causing distress to a woman by saying, “COVID-19 is Chinese for you.”
About an hour after these incidents, Kasturi allegedly fought and resisted arrest when a police officer attempted to subdue her.
Police said in their statement that Kasturi previously received a S $ 300 composition fine for not wearing a mask at Sun Plaza on an earlier occasion on April 29.
She will be investigated for not wearing her mask properly under COVID-19 Regulations 2020 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order), they said.
Police added that everyone should take “breaker” measures seriously and that “they will not tolerate such blatant disregard for the law and deliberate breaches of safe distancing measures.”
If convicted of using criminal force on a public servant, Kasturi could be jailed for up to four years, fined, or both.
For cursing a public servant, she could be jailed for up to one year, fined S $ 5,000, or both.
For each charge of using abusive words on the other victims, she could be jailed for up to six months, fined a maximum of S $ 5,000, or both.
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