SINGAPORE — Instead of staying put for treatment for tuberculosis (TB) at the Communicable Diseases Centre (CDC), he fled three times: On one occasion by climbing out of the window, and on another by lying to the police about his identity to avoid being detained.

Still infectious during his first two attempts, Mohamed Zaini Parman also eluded the authorities for eight months after his third try, before he was caught again in March this year.

In the first such case since the Sars outbreak in 2003, Zaini, 54, was sentenced to six months’ jail on Tuesday (Sept 13).

Zaini had pleaded guilty to two charges: One for leaving a place of isolation while still being treated under the Infectious Diseases Act, and one count of giving false information to the authorities to avoid going back to isolation. He was sentenced to four months’ jail on the first charge and two months on the second charge, with both sentences to run consecutively. Three other charges were taken into consideration when sentencing.

The district court heard that on Jan 3, 2014, Zaini was diagnosed with TB at Changi General Hospital and was referred to the Tuberculosis Control Unit. He failed to turn up for his appointment on Jan 13 and was uncontactable.

After he ignored a notice requiring him to report for medical examination and treatment, Zaini was served with an isolation order on May 8 that year, which led to him being detained and brought to the CDC to be isolated until he completed his treatment.

But weeks later, on May 23, Zaini left the CDC without permission. He was detained and brought back to the CDC on Jan 24 last year — only to make off again the next day, by climbing out of the window of his ward.

When he was spotted by police officers in Bedok on June 3 last year and stopped, Zaini gave the particulars of another person. A staff sergeant recognised him anyway, and he was arrested and transferred to the CDC the next day. Undeterred, Zaini would run off again two weeks later on June 19, before he was caught by public health officers from the Ministry of Health on March 4 this year.

A medical report showed that Zaini was still infectious when he ran off on May 23, 2014, and Jan 25 last year. 

The last conviction under the Infectious Diseases Act for such a case was that of Chua Hock Seng, who was jailed six months for violating his Home Quarantine Order during the Sars epidemic.

Urging the court to impose a total of six months’ jail for both offences, deputy public prosecutor Anamika Bagchi said that “general and specific deterrence” are key considerations in this case.

“There is public interest in ensuring that persons in the same situation as (Zaini) do not endanger the health and safety of the public by breaching isolation orders, or giving false information to public servants with a view to circumvent such orders,” said Ms Bagchi.

Zaini, who represented himself in court, said through a Malay interpreter that he was “very sorry” for what he had done.

“I am regretful for the offences that I have committed (and) currently going through treatment, I am taking medicine ... I won’t repeat (the) offences,” he added. “I have four kids and a wife, and they depend on me.”

Handing down the sentence, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said while the TB situation in Singapore is “certainly not quite as grim as the Sars crisis then”, he noted that the reported yearly figures of TB cases “are not insignificant”.

“As such, there is a constant need for vigilance and to protect the unsuspecting public from the risk of contact with persons under such orders,” he said.

For giving false information to a public servant, Zaini could have been jailed up to one year, or fined up to S$5,000, or both. For leaving a place of isolation without permission under the Infectious Diseases Act, he could have been fined up to S$10,000, or jailed up to six months, or both for the first conviction.