Imagine having supposed visions of gods and deities, only to realise that your life savings have unwittingly been depleted
This sounds bizarre, but it’s unfortunately what happened to a lady who was cheated by another woman pretending to be a deity.
Here’s what went down.
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Woman Jailed for Appearing to Another Lady as a ‘Child Deity’ to Cheat Her Life Savings
At 17, Soh Chih Hui had found a way to trick her mother’s friend by capitalising on her superstitious nature
She pretended to be a child deity and tricked her into handing over her life savings.
Soh told Madam Goh Seng Mui that she had found a potential husband for her in 2015, allegedly a 51-year-old bank employee.
She told Mdm Goh that she could not find a husband herself because she was “not fated” to be with a man and that she had to “borrow fate” if she wanted to find a husband.
As it turned out, “borrowing fate” involved giving Soh money to purchase cosmetic products, branded shoes and clothing, as well as chanting prayers, performing rituals and making offerings.
Soh appeared to Mdm Goh as a child deity by speaking in a high-pitched and childlike voice. She also appeared to Mdm Goh as another deity named “Fu Wang” at other times by speaking in a low voice.
She even demanded Mdm Goh to sell off her HDB flat, though fortunately Mdm Goh did not give Soh the money obtained from the sale in the end.
According to Mdm Goh, she was “very frightened” of Soh and gave her whatever she had demanded.
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Over six months, Mdm Goh gave Soh at least $49,600
This included an insurance payout of over $47,000, as well as $19,000 that she had borrowed from her brother.
On Monday (7 June), Soh, now 23, was sentenced to one year and three months’ imprisonment.
In addition, she was ordered to pay back the victim with the amount cheated, or face two more weeks’ imprisonment.
Soh will begin serving her sentence on 5 July. She is on bail of $15,000.
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District Judge Ling called for reports to assess if Soh was suitable for probation.
According to the report, any remorse demonstrated by Soh was “in tandem with the personal consequences of her actions rather than in recognition of the harm she caused.”
While Soh’s lawyer Peter Fernando said that she could not make restitution as she was a hawker assistant and did not have money, the judge noted that the probation report mentioned that Soh and her husband were financially stable and able to support themselves
The judge also asserted that there was no strong evidence that she had reflected on her actions and that she still had “poor moral reasoning, risk-taking tendencies”.
The judge said that Soh had treated Mdm Goh as “a personal ATM”, and that this reflected “a cunning, scheming and manipulative mind that merits a custodial term”.
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The judge did take Soh’s young age at the time of the offences into consideration during sentencing.
Ultimately however, the judge rejected Soh’s lawyer’s submissions for probation, as Soh had persisted in denying her offences up till recently and did not show any regret for what she did to Mdm Goh.
Featured Image: Dan Henson / Shutterstock.com
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