2 People Jailed After Knowing Each Other on SHN Hotel & Lied About Meeting in Room

By
Shawn Ambrose
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Unless they’re a Sovereign, people usually need an incentive to break the law.

Robbers, for example, steal from others because they want more cash or valuable possessions.

A jealous ex-boyfriend might assault his former lover’s new bae out of spite and jealousy, even though he knows he could pay dearly for it.

So, when it comes to breaching a stay-home notice, which is punishable by jail time and large fines, there has to be something enticing enough to compel you to break the law.

For two recent offenders, it was to share snacks.

Duo Met During SHN 

On 14 March, Bojanki Suresh Naidu and Bharati Tulshiram Choudhari arrived in Singapore from India.

Both Singapore permanent residents, they didn’t know each other prior to the flight. They were both served with stay-home notices (SHN) upon arrival, which would be served at Oasia Hotel Novena.

Incidentally, both ended up serving their SHN on the 16th floor, which is how they ended up getting acquainted.

Suresh, 37, called up Bharati’s room, and the two hatched a plan to meet.

What for, you ask? Well, it’s not what you think, as Suresh apparently wanted to collect some snacks from the 48-year-old woman, and chat with her.

So, on 20 March at around 12:30am, Suresh left his room and went to Bharati’s room, where he was let in. He stayed there until about 1 am. He was without a mask the whole time.

When he returned to his room, he realised that he had made a grave mistake: his door was locked. 

Yes, unbeknownst to many SHN breachers, when you leave your hotel room during an SHN, your door will be locked.

So he had no choice but to call the hotel staff, and a security officer opened the door for him at around 1:20 am.

Lies, Lies, and More Lies

When asked how he had gotten locked out, Suresh said he had difficulties breathing and left his room for air.

Then, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority launched an investigation, at which the duo had two options:

  1. Come clean
  2. Literally anything but lie and dig a bigger hole for themselves

So, naturally, they lied and dug a bigger hole for themselves.

They lied that their meeting was accidental, with Suresh saying he had felt suffocated after drinking beer and went to Bharati’s room for help.

Bharati corroborated the claim, saying she had heard a knock and found Suresh outside her doors saying he felt suffocated and needed help.

Caught Red Handed

Unfortunately for them, the camera never lies.

Security camera footage of the hotel’s corridor showed that both of them had opened their doors at the same time at 12:30 am, showing that the meeting had been arranged in advance.

Yesterday (17 Aug), both Suresh and Bharati were sentenced to three weeks’ jail for breaching their SHNs.

They had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of exposing others to the risk of COVID-19 infection, with another charge of not wearing a mask taken into consideration for Suresh during sentencing.

Suresh, who has a wife and two kids, said he was not in a relationship with Bharati, and maintained that she had only wanted to give him food.

Both have been living in Singapore for over 10 years, with Bharati saying the incident has embarrassed her family.

Whether it’s for snacks, to chat, or to have an intense game of Monopoly, don’t breach your SHN. It’s never worth it.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]