Police Explained Why They Arrested Woman Who Allegedly Poured Soup & Bit Stranger in Novena Square

Now, when you come across an account of someone pouring soup on a stranger and biting them, you’d probably assume that the main story would be about her motives for doing so.

Instead, however, everyone’s focused on her arrest in public, questioning whether it was lawful.

Woman Who Allegedly Poured Soup & Bit Stranger in Novena Square Arrested

A 35-year-old woman was arrested in Novena Square after she allegedly poured soup over a random stranger’s head and bit him.

The woman was apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act and is now receiving treatment at the Institute of Mental Health.

According to a police statement, the woman had shouted “randomly” and unprovoked at an unrelated male patron in a restaurant, and allegedly poured a bowl of soup over his head.

The man attempted to confront her and a scuffle ensued, where the woman bit the man’s hand.

“The 32-year old man was conscious when conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital,” the statement said.

However, it wasn’t the incident itself that has netizens talking.

Accused Police Officers of Bullying

While a video of the incident was not recorded, a video of the woman getting apprehended by four police officers in the mall made the rounds on social media.

It was shared on the Facebook page All Singapore Stuff on 14 Oct.

In the video, the woman, who’s wearing a bright yellow top, is surrounded by three male officers and one female one.

The woman is clearly upset, and shouts “You are taking away my functions and you are bullying me” at the officers.

While the female officer appears to be explaining why they’re detaining her, a male officer suddenly grabs her wrist from behind and twists it back to handcuff her.

“Stop it, stop it! It’s not necessary. This is not necessary and it is against human rights!” the woman screamed in protest.

They eventually manage to handcuff her, and all four officers lead her away from the scene of the arrest.

M Ravi: Arrest Was Abuse of Power

Many netizens questioned if the arrest was necessary, especially considering the amount of force used.

Human rights lawyer M Ravi, who shared the video on his Facebook page, called the arrest  “outrageous” and an “abuse of power”.

In his post, Ravi questioned the need for an arrest and whether the police were lawful in doing so:

“To handcuff someone unlawfully in public is a serious offence if such arrest is declared by the court as unlawful. It also attracts criminal penalty of false imprisonment and battery,” he said.

“From what I see, this arrest is totally unacceptable.”

He added that his colleagues from other countries are “shocked” at the manner in which these officers arrested the woman, as one of they twisted her arm.

Police: Woman Posed a Danger to Public

In their statement, the police explained that they arrested the woman because she was “assessed to be posing a danger to herself and the public”.

Before the arrest, the woman’s next-of-kin had arrived at the scene but couldn’t calm her down either.

The woman kept shouting “incoherently” at the police, the statement said.

As such, she was subsequently apprehended under Section 7 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.

“The woman is also being investigated for voluntarily causing hurt and using criminal force to deter a public servant from carrying out his duties. She had hurled verbal abuse and also spat on the officers in the process,” the police said.

We should probably wait for more details of the incident before rushing to judgment.