A Singaporean woman accused of refusing to wear a mask and assaulting someone at Shunfu Mart on Sunday will be charged in court today, according to the police.
The 40-year-old woman will be charged with voluntarily causing hurt, creating a public nuisance, and breaching safe distancing measures, police announced last night, after she was captured in multiple viral videos claiming to be a “sovereign,” refused to wear the mandatory face protection and was accused of giving someone the middle finger.
MP says woman in viral Shunfu market kerfuffle apprehended ‘on the spot’
The police said they arrested her at about 9:10pm.
If charged and convicted on all counts, the unnamed woman faces maximum penalties of over S$10,000 (around US$7,000) in fines as well as jail time.
In one of the clips, the woman can be heard explaining to people at the market that she has “no contract with the police.”
The Minister for Law and Home Affairs, K Shanmugam, last night commented on the matter and shed light on what the woman may have meant by calling herself a “sovereign,” speculating that it might be linked to an American movement whose adherents reject citizenship and government authority.
“There is a movement in the US, and adherents to that movement, (broadly speaking) reject Government, reject the police and any kind of authority,” he wrote online.
“Well and good. But then such people should not live within society – she should not expect any of the benefits that come from this system of governance, including her security, medical care, other benefits,” he added.
It is illegal to go out without a face mask in Singapore as part of stricter COVID-19 measures. Confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose to 18,778 last night. The death toll stands at 18.
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MP says woman in viral Shunfu market kerfuffle apprehended ‘on the spot’
