Even in this age of #metoo, a Singaporean policewoman thought nothing about filing false statements on behalf of a lady who lodged a report about being molested — all because the cop wanted to get the case closed quickly.
Channel NewsAsia reported that Senior Staff Sergeant Kalaivani Kalimuthu was sentenced to five months in prison yesterday for committing forgery and compromising the investigations of the molest case. The 38-year-old had been an investigation officer in the Violence Against Persons Squad at Ang Mo Kio Division back in 2016, when she committed her offense.
The Singapore Police Force has since suspended Kalaivani in September 2017, after investigations uncovered her misdeeds.
The case
The court heard that a woman had lodged a police report in March 2016, stating that she was a victim of molest and attempted rape. Assigned with the case, Kalaivani was tasked to interview the woman and record another statement, but the cop wasn’t able to arrange an interview with her. The New Paper reported that Kailavani “encountered difficulty in arranging an interview”.
According to the prosecution, the policewoman wanted to get the case over with and decided to forge a statement for the alleged victim. Kailavani wrote that the woman had touched her alleged attacker during the incident and didn’t mind being touched by the molester. Tracing the victim’s signature from a previous statement, the cop signed off the statement.
Kailavani then recommended to her superior officer that no further action should be taken in regards to the case, CNA reported.
The discovery
Believing the forged statement, the Attorney-General’s Chambers recommended that a warning should be issued to the woman for providing false information to the police. But when another investigation officer interviewed the woman in person in June 2017, the woman denied that she said the things recorded in the statement.
The officer also found no record of the woman even entering the police station on the day her statement was purportedly taken. The jig was up.
The good news is that the police followed up with investigations into the molest case after Kailavani was busted, and managed to serve justice by prosecuting the molester.
Kailavani was slammed by the prosecution for the flagrant breach of trust, which has the potential to undermine public confidence in law enforcement agencies and the administration of criminal justice.
The Singapore Police Force assured that officers who break the law will be dealt with severely.
“Officers of the Singapore Police Force are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity,” wrote SPF in a statement.
