Man Who Defaced Mother Mary Statue in Hougang Church Given Stern Warning With No Charges

Remember the man who defaced the Mother Mary statue at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

The man had trespassed into the church and stuck marbles to the statue’s eyes.

We all thought the man would be served a big bowl of justice, but he got a light slap on the wrist instead.

Man Who Defaced Mother Mary Statue in Hougang Church Given Stern Warning With No Charges

The man, 38-year-old Race Koh Jun Xian, was given a stern warning after the prosecution dropped all charges against him on Monday (11 Jan).

For a charge of criminal trespass and another of defiling a place of worship with intent to insult a religion, the man was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal, according to CNA.

After being charged last year for his offence, Koh was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric assessment.

While he had an extensive history of substance abuse disorder, he was assessed to be of sound mind when committed the offence.

What Happened

In November last year, the church was closed to the public as renovation works were ongoing.

In spite of this, Koh trespassed into the church on 12 Nov by climbing over a fence at around 12.30am.

He had previously trespassed into the church on two other occasions, on 2 and 5 Nov.

On 12 Nov, once inside the church, Koh then used blue tack to stick marbles to the eyes of the statue.

Officers later arrested Koh after identifying him through ground investigations and CCTV footage.

Wanted to “Beautify” Her

In court, when asked to explain his actions, Koh gave a rather puzzling answer.

“I did not do this intentionally,” he said.

“I was sincere in wanting to pray to Mother Mary. I wanted to beautify her, I did not know this was an offence.”

And it’s precisely because he didn’t know it was an offence that he was let off with a stern warning.

“The man claimed that he had wanted to pray to the statue and intended to beautify it out of gratitude,” the police said.

“Police investigations revealed the man did not think that he would be defiling the statue. No permanent damage was done to the statue by the man’s act”.

“A stern warning was thus given, taking into consideration the overall context of the offences, and taking into account the period of remand served”, they added.

For criminal trespass, Koh could have been jailed for up to three months, fined $1,500, or both.

Defiling a place of worship with intent to insult a religion is a much more serious offence, as those convicted can be jailed for a maximum of five years, fined, or both.

Statue Has Been Restored

The church, which was built in 1901, was presented with this statue by the Sultan Ibrahim of Johor over 70 years ago.

According to the church’s website, the statue in this form is called ‘The Immaculate Conception of Mary’.

The good news is that the desecrated statue has since been restored.

“Praise the Lord! We have restored our Lady’s statue! Many have heard about Our Lady’s statue, and we have received many well-wishes and enquiries. We would like to thank everyone for your prayers and considerations,” the church said in a post on Facebook.

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