Singaporean to face 15 months imprisonment for mailing pork slices to mosques

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man who anonymously mailed pork slices to seven mosques across the island out of resentment towards his female boss has been sentenced to 15 months’ jail, after a judge condemned the acts as deliberate, offensive, and carefully planned.

Case details 

As reported by Yan.sg, the 62-year-old man was resentful when his employment contract was not renewed, and he put the blame on his female supervisor. As part of his revenge, he purchased envelopes, paper, and pork slices, after which he wrote highly insulting notes and sent the seven anonymous letters to seven different mosques. To make matters worse, he also wrote his female boss’s personal cellphone number in the letters to direct the harassment towards her. 

In court, the prosecution stated that these letters caused trauma to their recipients—one female employee was shocked upon opening the envelope and experienced difficulty in breathing, and she was rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment. More so, all seven mosques reported the incident to the police, and the authorities launched an investigation to identify and arrest the suspect. 

The judge emphasised that the suspect’s actions were planned and clearly intended to cause violence. The suspect used religious sensitivities as a weapon for personal revenge, and it posed a threat to Singapore’s racial and religious relationships. 

The court declared that attacking the Muslim religion was a core component of the suspect’s revenge plan, and this case is a direct attack on the foundations of Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society, for it violated the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act and the Prevention of Harassment Act. 

With this, the suspect was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment. 

According to Singapore law, the maximum penalty for intentionally offending religious feelings is imprisonment for up to five years or a fine. Furthermore,  the maximum penalty for harassing another person with insulting language is imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.