Singapore—Police have arrested a woman who attacked a man with a pair of scissors at the Bedok Bus Interchange at 2:30 pm on Monday, April 8. If found guilty, she could receive a jail sentence of up to 7 years.
Bystanders saw a couple—a 29-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman—arguing at the interchange. After a while, the argument escalated when the woman began to hit and kick the man during the course of their tussle.
After the man hit the woman back, she ran into a store that sold cosmetics nearby and returned with a pair of scissors, which she tried to use to attack the man, who was at that time already bloody.
One witness, a sales assistant at Queens Beauty Station, told Shin Min Daily News that the woman resorted to violence first. The witness said, ”She kicked him and punched him in the head, and he started bleeding. I believe she was holding a key, or something else sharp.”
When the man hit her back, she started bleeding as well. And then she ran to get the scissors from the cosmetics shop.
Another witness, Sazali Sidek, told The New Paper (TNP) that the man was shouting, “Please someone help to stop her.” Mr Sazali had been working in an electricity retailing booth nearby when the altercation occurred.
The fight, which lasted around 15 minutes, caused a crowd to gather around the couple. Around ten men were eventually able to pin the man down, while three people held the woman.
Mr Sazali also said, “One of the SBS Transit staff was able to catch hold of the woman’s hand and took the scissors away.”
The police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived before 3pm and tried to intervene.
Since both the man and woman were bloody, they were taken to Changi General Hospital in separate SCDF ambulances.
TNP also learned that there were bloodstains at the scene, according to Transitlink technical officer Asri Bin Ajis.
The woman has been charged with voluntarily causing hurt by a dangerous weapon, with police looking into the matter further.
The section of the country’s Penal Code which pertains to the incident is Section 334. It states that “whoever voluntarily causes hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting, or any instrument which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, or by means of fire or any heated substance, or by means of any poison or any corrosive substance, or by means of any explosive substance, or by means of any substance which it is deleterious to the human body to inhale, to swallow, or to receive into the blood, or by means of any animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years, or with fine, or with caning, or with any combination of such punishments.”