Indian-origin woman faces charges for refusing to wear face mask in Singapore

SINGAPORE: A 40-year-old Indian-origin woman in Singapore was charged with five counts, including use of criminal force, in a court here on Saturday for refusing to wear a face mask for protection against COVID-19 and assaulting a police officer who tried to ascertain her identity.

Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamswamy was arrested after the incident that happened at a shopping mall on May 7 and was captured on video.

Retnamswamy, who is a Singaporean, was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric evaluation after the incident, reported The Straits Times.

She was taken to a court on Saturday and faced five charges, including use of abusive words and criminal force against a public servant. The next hearing is scheduled for May 22 after her remand in the IMH.

According to the police statement on Friday, the woman insulted the mall staff and hurled abuses at a security officer who was trying to get her to put on her mask correctly.

The mall staff informed the police and when the officers requested to see her identity, she allegedly started peeling off the address sticker on her identity card.

When one of the police officers tried to stop her, the woman assaulted the police officer and remained uncooperative, said the police, noting that the woman had been fined SGD 300 (USD 212) on April 29 for not wearing a mask at the same mall. Everyone should take the circuit breaker measures seriously. The police will not tolerate such blatant disregard of the law and wilful breaches of safe distancing measures, the police said.

Meanwhile, An owner of a popular Indian-american grocery store in California has been charged with price gouging, marking some items up as much as 200 per cent, during the Coronavirus pandemic when the entire US state is under stayat-home orders.

Following consumer complaints filed on Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court, an investigation revealed that Rajvinder Singh, owner of the popular Apna Bazaar in California’s Pleasanton, had allegedly increased the prices of grocery items after the emergency declaration by the governor on March 4.

Based on evidence provided by customer receipts, the investigation confirmed that the pricing of several food items exceeded the 10-per cent increase allowed during a state of emergency, with some prices being as much as 200 per cent more than what was previously charged, according to a joint statement issued by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’malley.