Photo: Stomp
SINGAPORE – A late-night dispute over a skipping rope session at a West Coast condominium took a violent turn when a 50-year-old housewife attacked her neighbor with a mop, breaking its aluminum handle into three pieces. The woman, Jessinta Tan Suat Lin, was sentenced on Feb 11 to four weeks’ jail and fined $4,600 for multiple offenses, including voluntarily causing hurt, harassment, and committing a rash act.
Tan, a former journalist, had approached her neighbor at Westmont condominium on Feb 16, 2024, demanding she stop exercising near the swimming pool. Frustrated by the noise, which she claimed was disturbing her teenage son’s rest, Tan launched a verbal tirade when the neighbor refused to comply. Her anger escalated as she hurled five or six eggs at the woman from her window at around 9.50pm.
Moments later, Tan confronted the woman again—this time, armed with a mop. In a frenzied attack, she struck her neighbor on the head repeatedly, bit her arm, and continued beating her until the mop’s aluminum handle snapped into three pieces. Not stopping there, Tan also threw a bag of rubbish and an incense bin at the victim, but missed. The injured woman sought medical attention at a hospital and was found to have suffered head and arm injuries. She later moved out of the condominium following the incident.
Police arrested Tan that night, and she was bailed out by her husband. However, her violent outburst was not an isolated event. Two months later, a domestic dispute erupted between Tan and her husband over their parenting styles. During the argument, she issued a chilling threat in front of their teenage son: “I will just kill him one day. He might just die one day in his sleep. One day, when I am really mad, he will die in his sleep. He better lock his door when he sleeps at night.”
Tan also sent a profanity-laced text to her husband, claiming she would jump bail, and later that night, she threatened to falsely accuse him of rape. Concerned for his safety, her husband filed a police report against her.
Tan’s lawyer, Mr. Ramachandran Shiever Subramanium, argued in court that she suffered from anxiety and depression. However, a psychiatric assessment found that her conditions did not contribute to her offenses, making her ineligible for a mandatory treatment order.
District Judge Crystal Goh sentenced Tan to four weeks’ jail and imposed a fine of $4,600. Under Singapore law, voluntarily causing hurt carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. Committing a rash act can result in six months’ jail and a $2,500 fine, while harassment is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000.
Tan, who pleaded guilty to three charges, will now serve her sentence, a stark reminder of how a moment of unchecked rage can lead to severe consequences.
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