Woman who met her boyfriend during circuit breaker fined S$5,000

A 30-year-old woman was fined S$5,000 for several offences, including leaving her house twice to meet her boyfriend during the Covid-19 “circuit breaker” period.

Renukha Arumugam was fined on Monday (June 15) after being charged with five counts under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020.

On Friday (May 22), she was charged under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, which became law earlier in the year.

She initially faced two counts of meeting individuals not from her household for a social purpose, two of leaving her house without reasonable excuse and one count of not wearing a mask properly when outdoors.

It was reported that during the Circuit Breaker, Ms Arumugam had slipped away from her house three times. She left home once to meet a friend and twice to meet her boyfriend.

On April 12, she left her apartment in Jurong West and met her boyfriend in front of Block 713, Clementi West Street 2. This occurred at around 3 am. And around 12.30 am on April 17, she left home again and went to her boyfriend’s place at Clementi West Street 2.

On the same day at 1.30 pm, she was seen without a mask at Block 724, Clementi West Street 2.

And on April 29, she is accused of having gone to Block 433, Jurong West Street 41, to meet an unnamed friend. This occurred shortly before 11 am. She and her friend were supposed to go get groceries together.

Ms Arumugam apologised to the court and added that she had not meant to break the law.

“I am really sorry for everything, and I didn’t wish to breach during this period.” She added: “I’m unemployed, so if you are going to give me a heavy fine, I don’t think I can pay.”

How she was caught

According to court documents,Ms Arumugam had a dispute with her family on April 17. She tried to call her boyfriend, but was unable to reach him and decided to go to his block instead, a TODAY Online article reported.

She was drunk at the point in time, the court documents said.

Her boyfriend met her at the void deck as he did not want her to come up to his flat.

During their meeting, she told him her family issues and began to cry.

An unidentified caller reported to the police at about 1.10pm that “one boy hitting a girl here. Please come down now.”

When the police arrived, they saw Ms Arumugam sitting on a grass patch at the side of the road and her boyfriend standing and waiting for a taxi. Both of them were not wearing masks at that point in time. /TISG

Woman faces fine, jail for flouting CB rules to meet boyfriend