SINGAPORE: A 60-year-old Indian-origin man in Singapore escaped harsher jail terms on Monday for repeated anti-social behaviour that included creating a ruckus at a hospital and making threats while in police lock-up.
Sanjay Amreetpal Singh Mohd was sentenced to four months in jail after he pleaded guilty to two charges under the Protection from Harassment Act, with another two charges taken into consideration.
In the hospital incident, Singh had refused to leave the premises, before making a threat while in police lock-up months later, according to a Channel News Asia report.
The court heard that Singh was admitted to a ward in Ng Teng Fong General Hospital on November 20 for pain in his left knee.
He told doctors that he had fallen off a bicycle days before, but refused to give more information about his fall, said court documents.
The next day, arrangements were made for him to be discharged as there was no need for him to be warded any longer.
He was cleared by both the hospital's in-house physiotherapist and medical social worker and was ready to be discharged by noon on November 21 last year.
However, Singh refused to leave when nurses approached him. A doctor visited him at 4pm and told him that he had to leave the hospital, but Singh grew agitated.
He shouted at the doctor and cursed him, before making an obscene gesture. Singh left the hospital only after police arrived.
Months later in February this year, Singh was hauled up to the Woodlands Police Division Regional lock-up as the police investigated a case of molestation.
A police officer took Singh's statement for the alleged offence on Feb 7, 2020.
When asked if he had anything else to say to the victim, Singh said: "If I being charge(d) and after I come out, I will look for her and spit at her and scold her vulgarity towards her.
" Before these incidents, Singh had been convicted of similar charges under the Protection from Harassment Act in August 2019.
As a repeat offender, he could have been jailed up to two years, fined up to 10,000 Singapore dollars, or both for his actions towards the doctor.
He could have been jailed for up to a year, fined a maximum SGD10,000, or both for making the threat to the alleged molestation victim.