'I didn't expect to get beaten up at a supermarket': Elderly woman assaulted by duo over 'gossip' in Bukit Merah FairPrice outlet

She claimed to have simply glanced at the women and made a passing remark, but that appeared to be enough to set a mother-and-daughter pair off.

The woman in her 70s shared that she was then assaulted by the women in a supermarket and pushed to the ground.

The incident occurred at around 2pm last Wednesday (Aug 2) at a FairPrice outlet located at Bukit Merah Central, Shin Min Daily News reported.

The woman, identified by her surname Huang, recounted to Shin Min how she'd overheard the women, who appeared to be in their 60s and 80s, gossiping about others and their family affairs.

From Huang's observation, the pair appeared to have a close relationship, having held hands while shopping and seemed to be mother and daughter. 

Huang added that as someone who doesn't like to engage in gossip, she'd turned around and glanced at the two women.

"They still continued to gossip so I turned to look at them again," said Huang, who also admitted to muttering the words, "gossiping all day long".

Although Huang wasn't sure if the women had heard her remark, Huang claimed that the women suddenly turned violent when she was in the drinks and biscuits aisle, and she was pushed to the ground.

"The daughter held my hands and the mother pulled my hair. They pinned me down with great force. I couldn't react in time and didn't have the strength to resist, so my forehead hit the ground," Huang described.

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She added that the pair also cursed at her in Hokkien.

Huang said she wasn't able to call for help as she was sick and had seen a doctor prior to going to the supermarket. 

"The incident happened so suddenly. I struggled but couldn't extricate myself, and my voice was gone so I couldn't call for help," said Huang. She estimated that at least five minutes elapsed while she was on the ground.

As no other shoppers passed by the aisle at the time, Huang believed it was one of the staff members who spotted the altercation and pulled the mother and daughter away. 

The police were eventually called in and they scanned through the CCTV footage upon arrival, Huang shared. All three involved parties were spoken to by the police individually before the mother-daughter pair left.

Clump of hair pulled out

Huang told Shin Min Daily News that she declined to be taken to a hospital by ambulance as she did not want to pay the $100 fee. 

She stated, however, that besides losing a clump of hair from the hair-pulling, her head hurt as a result the next day.

Bruises also appeared on her arm where Huang was grabbed and there was a bump on her forehead.

"If it still hurts I will go and see a doctor for an examination as hitting one's head can be a cause for concern," said Huang, who stated that she has decided to file a lawsuit against the pair and hope they would be punished by the law.

Said Huang of the incident: "I really didn't expect to get beaten up at a supermarket."

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candicecai@asiaone.com