Coronavirus: Woman caught not wearing mask in Sun Plaza tells court she has multiple personalities

SINGAPORE - A woman who was caught on video berating at least two men in Sun Plaza shopping mall after refusing to wear a mask told a district court on Friday (June 12) she has "extreme rage" and "multiple personalities" issues.

Appearing in court via video-link, Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamsamy said: "Even if I were to plead guilty, what evidence is there that I would be given proper help?"

District Judge May Mesenas replied that Kasturi, 40, may be served a mandatory treatment order (MTO), which would compel her to undergo treatment for mental conditions in lieu of jail time.

The jobless Singaporean decided to admit to her offences when she heard this and added: "Show me some help... Give me some help."

Kasturi pleaded guilty on Friday to one count each of harassment, using criminal force on a policewoman and an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.

Three other counts of harassment will be considered during sentencing.

Kasturi was spotted with a mask in her hand while in the mall at around noon on April 29. When told to put it on, she refused.

Instead, she insulted mall staff and hurled vulgarities at a security officer.

The incident was caught on a video which was widely shared. It shows Kasturi taunting a man while demanding he remove his mask to speak to her.

[[nid:487638]]

She was back at the mall at around 2pm on May 7. This time, she reacted after mall staff, as a condition of entry, wanted to scan her NRIC to facilitate contact tracing.

"The accused threw her NRIC onto the table and was vulgar towards the mall staff. The accused was asked to leave the premises but proceeded to walk into the mall although her NRIC had not been scanned," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh.

At the third storey of the mall, she sat on the floor and when a security supervisor approached her, she told him that she was "exercising".

Kasturi then abused him with vulgar language.

Police arrived soon after and she was arrested for verbally abusing the security supervisor.

While Sergeant Geraldine Quek Jie Yi was trying to handcuff Kasturi, she resisted arrest and scratched the officer's right forearm.

As a result, the policewoman suffered a 5cm scratch and sought treatment at Woodlands Polyclinic.

On Friday, Kasturi told the court: "I'm in a lot of pain. Hope we can get through this quickly... I do not trust the system because you are abusing me here."

She, however, agreed for defence lawyer Diana Ngiam to represent her pro bono.

Judge Mesenas has called for a report to assess Kasturi's suitability for an MTO.

She will be sentenced on June 26.

For verbally abusing another person, an offender can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $5,000.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.