Charges against Malaysian teacher who breached checkpoint withdrawn

Singapore, on Friday afternoon, withdrew all three charges against the 27-year-old Malaysian teacher who slipped past officers at Woodlands Checkpoint and entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs compound illegally. However, her dischage does not amount to an acquittal, ruled District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan.

Nurul Rohana Binte Ishak, who has been found to be of unsound mind, will have all her seized items returned to her. These include her red Perodua car, and she will be allowed to return home to Malaysia later on Friday. She will resume her regular psychiatric treatment in Malaysia.

A psychiatric report dated 25 February, and issued by psychiatrist Derek Yeo at the Institute of Mental Health, showed that she was diagnosed with a paranoid subtype of schizophrenia. Dr Yeo concluded that she could not have been capable of knowing the nature of the crimes she was committing.

Nurul suffered from auditory hallucinations, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Dwayne Lum, and she was under the belief that she was being persecuted at the time of the offences.

In January, Nurul Rohana had tailgated her way through the Woodlands Checkpoint and eluded police for three days. She then tailgated a taxi driver into Cantonment Police Complex. The latter had acted on police instruction, but yet she successfully escaped and managed to enter the tightly-secured compound of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Judge Shaiffudin said the prosecution can, in a year’s time, apply to acquit Nurul of her charges completely, provided she does not repeat the offence.

Present in court to receive the good news were officials from the Malaysian High Commission as well as Nurul’s 48-year-old mother Sharifah bte Shafie, whose sombre expression broke into a smile when the verdict was translated by Malaysian High Commission representatives.

“I’m happy the case is over,” she said to reporters outside court, adding that when she receives her daughter from immigration officers at the Woodlands Checkpoint later on Friday, the first thing she will do is hug her, and then sit down to a meal with her.

Malaysia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Singapore Kamsiah Kamaruddin added that she was grateful and “extremely pleased” to hear the court’s decision, thanking local authorities for their co-operation in protecting Nurul’s privacy and interests throughout.