Tampines woman who made religious insults gets probation
SINGAPORE — A 66-year-old woman who wounded the religious feelings of her Muslim neighbour in Tampines was on Thursday (6 February) sentenced to 12 months’ probation.
Lee Dji Lin, who has a mental illness, had pleaded guilty two similar charges in November last year with a third similar charge considered in sentencing.
As part of her sentence, Lee will have to comply with medication and psychiatric treatment as required.
Lee was charged on 9 July last year following a Yahoo News Singapore story in June on the nine-year long dispute between the neighbours.
She was later assessed by a government psychiatrist to be suffering from chronic delusional disorder with some contributory link between the illness and the commission of the offences.
However, she was found unsuitable for a Mandatory Treatment Order, or MTO. At the time of the offences, Lee was already under a two-year MTO imposed in June 2017 for throwing pork at the victim’s flat the previous year. The prosecution has said that Lee will be dealt with for breaching the MTO separately.
Offenders given an MTO, a community-based sentencing option, will have to undergo psychiatric treatment at the Institute of Mental Health instead of serving jail time.
Religious insults
On 24 April last year, the victim, Marliah Jonet, 64, who lives directly above Lee’s HDB unit in Tampines Street 21, called the police as Lee had been cursing at her from her own home.
Marliah’s daughter had been helping her clean her home earlier that day, but Lee was unhappy with the noise caused by the vacuuming and shouted at the mother and daughter from her home, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Vincent Ong.
“The accused shouted the words ‘Anak babi’ in Malay, which means ‘Baby pig’ in English in the hearing of the victim,” said DPP Ong.
“The accused had shouted the words, intending for the victim to hear them, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of the victim.”
Two months later, on 11 June, Marliah called the police again at about 12pm as Lee had been cursing at her since the morning.
While the victim was cleaning her home, she heard Lee shouting the words, “Bodoh punya Melayu, cari pasal sama orang Cina, Melayu pergi makan babi” in Malay, which means “Stupid Malay, looking for trouble with Chinese people, Malay go eat pig” in English.
Lee intended for Marliah to hear the words and wanted to wound her religious feelings, said DPP Ong.
Less than a week later, on 17 June, Lee again wounded the religious feelings of her Muslim neighbour. This third charge was considered in sentencing.
Lee’s lawyer Chung Ting Fai had told the court that his client was in the process of moving out of her home, but did not give any specific moving-out date; Lee still lives below the victim.
The maximum punishment for each of Lee’s charges of uttering words with the intention to wound religious feelings is a jail term of up to three years along with a fine.
Have a tip-off or a story lead to share with us? If you come across something newsworthy, do e-mail us at sgnews.tips@verizonmedia.com.
In your e-mail, do provide as many details as possible including videos and photos. If you are open to speaking to us as a witness to an incident, please provide your name and contact number.
Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
Related stories:
Tampines woman who made religious insults seeks probation
Tampines woman admits hurling religious insults at neighbour, offender plans to move out
Tampines woman charged for hurling religious insults at neighbour
Nine years and counting: Tampines woman still facing daily insults from neighbour
Tampines pork-throwing woman still terrorising Malay neighbour after court order
Woman who threw pork at Malay neighbour's flat in Tampines given psychiatric treatment order
Woman suffers daily verbal abuse from ‘mad’ neighbour at Tampines for 6 years
