• Rita Kantha Narayanan first began stealing cough mixture to feed her addiction
• She was fired from her job but broke Covid-19 regulations shortly after
• While down with a cough, she rejected a five-day medical certificate
• She went to her friend’s funeral in Hougang and took a chartered bus to Mandai Crematorium

SINGAPORE — When a doctor told Rita Kantha Narayanan that she had to abide by a five-day medical certificate and get tested for Covid-19, she abruptly left the clinic and went to her friend’s funeral instead.

The former clinic assistant had already been nabbed for repeatedly stealing cough medicine from her old workplace.

On Tuesday (June 8), the 48-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to 10 months’ jail for house breaking in order to commit theft, and a further six weeks behind bars for exposing others to the risk of Covid-19 infection, after pleading guilty to both charges.

Five other similar charges, including theft, were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that in mid-2019, she began working as a clinic assistant at Everhealth Medical Centre in Hougang.

She was fired on June 24 last year because of her poor performance and the clinic having hired a full-time employee.

Two days later, in the wee hours of the morning, she took a private-hire car to the clinic to steal cough mixture for her own consumption. She had grown addicted to it when she began working there and had stolen cough mixture on several earlier occasions.

She unlocked the clinic door with the password she previously used, poured out some cough mixture into an empty container, refilled the original containers with water to cover her tracks, and left.

She then went home and eventually drank all of it.

The next day, the clinic owner’s wife told him that the seals on two large containers of cough mixture had been tampered with and the contents appeared to be diluted.

The owner retrieved closed-circuit television footage which showed Rita committing the offences. He then lodged a police report.

She has since paid her former employer back with S$116 — the value of the cough mixture.

She was subsequently arrested on July 1 but broke the law again just a few weeks later.

COVID-19 BREACH

On July 19, she went to Admiralty Family Medical Clinic to seek treatment for a cough. A doctor diagnosed her with acute respiratory infection after observing that she had a hoarse voice and inflamed throat.

He then told her that she had to stay home for five days, as was legally required under the law to curb the spread of Covid-19. He also asked that she take a swab test for Covid-19.

She asked to cancel the consultation but the request was turned down. She then left the clinic before the medical certificate could be printed and handed to her.

She walked to a nearby NTUC FairPrice supermarket outlet at Kampung Admiralty, spent some time there and took a private-hire Grab ride to Woodlands Drive 44, where she collected a flower garland.

She then walked home, before leaving with her husband and two sons for the funeral of her friend in Hougang. About 20 people were there.

Around 4pm, Rita and her husband took a chartered bus to Mandai Crematorium with 17 other people. They later returned to the communal hall where the funeral had taken place, had dinner and drove home at 7pm.

Court documents showed that on July 22 and 23, she also left her Woodlands home to meet two others at a Housing and Development Board branch office in Jurong West, among other destinations.

The documents did not state if Rita eventually tested positive for Covid-19.

In mitigation, her lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya said that she has been active at Meet-the-People sessions “for a very long time” and was “helpful in law enforcement… where police had apprehended offenders”.

“She agrees her behaviour was uncalled for and caused a lot of mental sadness which has affected her family life,” the lawyer added.

He also noted that her past convictions — including for forgery in 2006 — happened some time ago.

She will begin serving her sentence on July 26 as her son will be taking an examination.

For breaching Covid-19 laws, she could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$10,000, or both.

For house-breaking, she could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.