Advertisement

Man jailed after sitting on taxi roof to prevent wife from leaving

(PHOTO: Screenshot from Beh Chia Lor - Singapore Road's Facebook page)
(PHOTO: Screenshot from Beh Chia Lor - Singapore Road's Facebook page)

SINGAPORE — In a bid to prevented his estranged wife from leaving in a taxi, a man hopped onto the back of the vehicle and sat on its roof.

Muhammad Shafiee Abdul Hakim, 34, refused to get down despite bystanders at Paya Lebar Square taxi stand asking him to do so, and tried to open the taxi doors to get to his wife.

Shafiee was jailed for five days on Tuesday (30 November) on one count of mischief, to which he pleaded guilty. One count of using threatening behaviour against his wife by pulling her arms and chasing her to the taxi stand was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

Shafiee and his wife are currently separated and are undergoing divorce proceedings.

On 10 November last year, the couple had an argument around Paya Lebar Square. The wife wanted to leave but Shafiee refused to let her go. She ran into Paya Lebar Square to escape him but Shafiee followed.

At around 11.15am, the woman ran to Paya Lebar Square’s taxi stand to board a taxi but Shafiee followed closely behind. The woman then shouted for help and members of the public, including the mall’s building manager, tried to separate Shafiee from her.

While Shafiee was distracted by the others, the woman boarded a cab. Shafiee saw this and again tried to stop her. He ran towards the taxi and jumped onto it from behind as the taxi drove forward.

The taxi driver, a 66-year-old man, heard a loud thud and applied the emergency brakes. Fearing that Shafiee might attack him, he locked the taxi doors.

Meanwhile, five police reports were lodged against Shafiee by members of the public.

Shafiee climbed to the top of the taxi and sat on its roof, attracting a large crowd, with some bystanders asking him to get down. Shafiee refused and tried to open the taxi doors instead. CCTV cameras captured the incident.

Shafiee caused a dent on the roof of the car, which cost $321 to fix. He has since made full restitution for the damage.

For committing mischief, Shafiee could have been jailed up to two years, or fined, or both.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore