Two women, one an Indian student and the other a Singaporean of Indian origin, were handed hefty fines for violating the country's "circuit breaker" rules enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
During the COVID-19 "circuit breaker", from April 7 to June 2, it was illegal in the country to have guests at one's house or to meet people for social purposes.
While a 30-year old Singaporean woman was fined 5,000 Singaporean dollars for leaving her house twice to meet her boyfriend and not wearing her face mask properly when outside, a 23-year-old Indian student was fined for attending a gathering of 10 at a rented apartment on Kim Keat Road on May 5.
They were both held guilty as per the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, under which first-time offenders can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to 10,000 Singaporean dollars. The punishment is doubled for repeat offenders.
"The court imposed a fine of SGD 2,000 on Bhullar Jasteena," The Straits Times reported. One Singaporean dollar is about Rs 55.
Ms Jasteena had visited her friend Avinash Kaur, 27, to study on May 5. Ms Kaur lived with Navdeep Singh, 20, and Sajandeep Singh, 21, in the three-bedroom shared apartment, where six of the latter's friends had gathered on the same day.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh said that Ms Jasteena had met Ms Kaur for a "frivolous and completely unnecessary purpose in blatant disregard of the social distancing measures that the rest of society has taken pains to comply with".
On May 5, the police reached the unit and after an unidentified caller reported an altercation there. The court documents did not reveal details about the tiff.
Mr Navdeep and Mr Sajandeep were each fined 4,500 Singaporean dollars and Ms Kaur was fined 3,500 Singaporean dollars. Their guests were each fined 2,500 Singaporean dollars.
There were a total of 40,818 cases of coronavirus with 26 deaths in Singapore on Monday.
(With inputs from PTI)
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