Singapore—The Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced on Wednesday (Feb 12) that a man had been arrested after he had become hostile toward the medical staff and assaulted the Auxiliary Police Officer (APO) deployed at Sengkang General Hospital.
The incident occurred on Tuesday (Feb 11), shortly before 6 am.
The Police said in a statement that the man had been in a medical examination when his attitude became hostile toward the medical staff examining him, so much so that the APO deployed at the hospital had to be called in to assist in the matter.
The 37-year-old man lashed out against the APO and hit him in his right eye, which was cut because of the blow. As a result, hospital authorities called in the police.
When officers from the SPF arrived at the scene, the man continued his assault, punching and kicking at the officers. The Police subsequently arrested the man for assaulting and abusing the Police officers and the APO.
The 37-year-old assailant was scheduled to be charged in court today, Feb 12, 2020.
The charges brought against him are as follows:
a. Voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from discharging his duties under Section 332 of the Penal Code.
b. Insulting a public servant under Section 6(3) of Protection from Harassment Act, Chapter 256A.
Should the man be convicted of the first charge, he could end up with a prison sentence of as long as seven years. He could also be slapped with a fine or receive a caning.
For the second offence, if he is found guilty, he will be fined an amount not more than S$5000, be sent to jail for a period not longer than one year, or both.
SPF said in its statement, “The Police will not tolerate any physical or verbal abuse of public servants or public service workers, and will take strong action against perpetrators. As Singapore deals with the 2019 novel coronavirus, our healthcare workers and front line responders are working tirelessly, to provide care to the ill and protect Singapore. In doing so, they are putting their own health at risk. Not only must they be able to do their jobs free from abuse, but they deserve our highest respect and our strongest support and encouragement. Let us all rally behind them.”
The call from the Police to support the country’s front line health workers even as Singapore is faced with 47 cases of Covid-19, a novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan, a city in central China that has gone on to infect over 45,000 cases worldwide and has killed 1,115 people.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed two new cases of the virus on February 12. Both patients have no recent travel history to mainland China. One case is a 46-year-old man who lives in Singapore and the other is a 39-year-old Bangladesh national who works in Singapore. Both are currently in isolation, and contact tracing of the confirmed cases are ongoing. -/TISG