SINGAPORE — A 31-year-old woman was ordered to undergo a two-year mandatory treatment on Thursday (May 6) for harassing her neighbours twice last year, including placing raw meat at their doorstep.

Farhana Mohamed Suwati, a Singaporean, earlier admitted to one charge each of mischief and using insulting behaviour that caused distress to her neighbour.

A third charge of committing a rash act was taken into consideration for sentencing.

A mandatory treatment order is a community sentencing option offered to offenders suffering from mental conditions that contributed to the offence.

They will have to go for treatment with a court-appointed psychiatrist for up to three years.

No details were given on what type of mental illness Farhana has, only that she was diagnosed with a condition at the Institute of Mental Health.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that Farhana, who has been in remand for almost two months, had placed the raw beef on her neighbour’s doorstep around 11pm on May 20 last year.

She then shouted “wei” — an exclamation apparently aimed at getting the neighbour’s attention — and left.

This was during the circuit breaker period imposed to stem the spread of Covid-19 where people were allowed to only leave their homes for essential purposes.

Farhana admitted to doing this because she perceived that in early 2019, her neighbour had molested her so she intended to scare him and give a warning. She believed that he was at home as she heard a television on.

However, the man’s 79-year-old mother was the one watching television at the time. The mother felt “distressed and angry", especially as she is Sikh and does not eat or touch beef, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tin Shu Min told the court.

A few months later on Sept 10, the man and his mother were sitting on their sofa at home when Farhana shouted vulgarities in English and Malay at them. The main door of their unit was open but the gate was locked.

While in the common corridor, Farhana removed five aluminium window panels and three metal rods from their living room window, throwing the panels into the flat.

She admitted to doing this because she was easily annoyed by noises made by people and would eventually “explode” in anger.

DPP Tin said: “Earlier that day, she had heard a cough from the unit and felt disturbed. She then heard another sound from the unit when she was taking out the trash and lost her patience.”

The window was later reassembled but Farhana had damaged and bent three of the metal rods and broken a fourth one.

The Housing and Development Board paid S$82.73 for the window to be repaired.

For committing mischief, she could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or both. For using insulting behaviour, she could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$5,000, or both.