Covid-19: Woman with mental disorder who didn't wear mask at Sun Plaza mall discharged after 2 months in remand

• Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamsamy suffers from delusional disorder and has been in remand for two months
• It is not in her or the public’s interest to protract the matter, a prosecutor said
• She had pleaded guilty to committing Covid-19 offences in two separate incidents

SINGAPORE — A 40-year-old woman who was filmed arguing with safe distancing ambassadors while not wearing a face mask at Sun Plaza mall in Sembawang was granted an absolute discharge on Tuesday (July 14).

This means that Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamsamy, a Singaporean, will not be punished for the offences she had admitted to committing.

Under the Probation of Offenders Act, a court can grant an absolute discharge if it is not suitable in a case to “inflict punishment” on an offender and when “a probation order is not appropriate”.

The court has to consider the circumstances, including the nature of the offence and the offender’s character, before making such a decision.

On Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh told the court that while Kasturi had been convicted, this was an “exceptional case” where she has already been in remand for two months and suffers from a psychiatric condition.

It would not be in Kasturi’s interest or the public interest to protract the matter, the prosecutor added.

Kasturi’s lawyer, Ms Diana Ngiam, told TODAY that her client suffers from delusional disorder. Those afflicted with it cannot tell what is real from what is imagined.

When Kasturi pleaded guilty last month, she said that she had “extreme rage” and “multiple personalities” issues.

She will now have to go to the Institute of Mental Health for assessment and treatment.

She had pleaded guilty to one charge each of harassment, using criminal force on a police officer, and not wearing a mask at the mall under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.

Three other similar charges were meant to be taken into consideration for sentencing. However, she was found unsuitable for a mandatory treatment order — a community sentencing option offered to offenders suffering from mental conditions that contributed to the offence.

WHAT KASTURI DID

The court earlier heard that the first incident happened on April 29 at Sun Plaza mall.

Circuit breaker measures to stem the spread of Covid-19 were in place then and everyone was required to wear a face mask while outdoors.

At about noon that day, safe distancing ambassadors approached Kasturi in the mall as she was not wearing a mask. Instead, she was holding one in her hand.

She refused to put it on and a video of this incident later went viral online.

In it, she was heard telling a security guard: “Remove your mask if you want to talk. No one can hear anything.” She was also heard ridiculing others who confronted her, calling them “dumb” and “sophisticatedly stupid”.

She was issued a composition fine of S$300 for this.

About a week later on May 7, Kasturi was trying to enter Sun Plaza again when employees of the mall asked her for her National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) for contact-tracing purposes.

She threw her NRIC onto the table and used vulgar language when talking to the mall's employees. 

She was then asked to leave but proceeded to walk into the mall without having her NRIC scanned. The staff members contacted security personnel for help.

When Kasturi went to the third storey and sat on the floor, the mall’s security supervisor told her not to sit there. She replied that she was exercising but he said that it was not an appropriate place to do so and that she should leave.

At this point, she scolded him using some obscenities. The police were then called as she refused to leave the mall.

When police officers arrived, they found Kasturi still sitting there and decided to arrest her for using vulgarities earlier.

She resisted arrest, struggling with the officers and shouting more vulgarities. While one of them tried to handcuff her, she scratched the officer on her forearm. The incident was partially captured on the police officer's body-worn camera.

The officer later sought treatment at Woodlands Polyclinic and was given a vaccine and antibiotic cream.