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Singapore
Woman fined for slapping patient service associate after she could not find ex-husband at hospital
The emergency department at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. (File photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Lydia Lam
10 Nov 2021 04:25PM (Updated: 10 Nov 2021 04:25PM)
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SINGAPORE: Anxious to find her ex-husband, who has Alzheimer's and had been missing for some time before being taken to hospital, a woman slapped an employee at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital after quarrelling with him.
Jun Andylinn Abdul Majid, 62, was fined S$2,000 on Wednesday (Nov 10) for one count of voluntarily causing hurt.
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The court heard that Jun's ex-husband had been missing for some time, before being located and taken to hospital.
Jun went to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital on Sep 22 last year with her daughter, hoping to see him.
When she got there, she was told that her ex-husband was in the accident and emergency department and that no one was allowed in because of the COVID-19 situation.
The victim, a 52-year-old patient service associate, handed Jun a piece of paper with information about her ex-husband and asked her to come back at about 8.30pm.
She returned at about that time but could not visit her ex-husband in the ward, as she was told that he was not there.
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At 8.45pm, Jun returned to the accident and emergency department and confronted the victim. She alleged that the information given was inaccurate, and the victim explained that he had retrieved it from the hospital system at the time.
The victim tore up the piece of paper, as it was part of the hospital's personal data protection efforts, and Jun accused him of being unprofessional.
The pair began quarrelling, and Jun slapped the man on his cheek, leaving a bruise on his face.
The prosecutor sought a fine of between S$2,000 and S$2,500, noting that the accused did not have previous convictions and had pleaded guilty early.
The offence was also not premeditated or protracted, she said. However, she asked the court to take into account that Jun had targeted the victim's face, and that he was a public service worker whose role was "all the more imperative due to the COVID situation" at the time.
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Lawyer David Ling asked for a lower fine, saying that his client visits her ex-husband daily to take care of him, as he lives alone and suffers from Alzheimer's and diabetes.
He said his client was "pushed from pillar to post from about 5pm in the evening to 8.56pm locating her ex-husband".
"Of course she was tired and anxious as to the whereabouts of her ex-husband," he said.
According to his client, the victim had walked over to the table separating him from her and kicked her. She then slapped him once on the face "in retaliation", claimed the lawyer.
However, the prosecutor said there was no kick seen in closed-circuit television footage from the location leading up to the offence.
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The accused decided not to pursue her version of events. The judge said a fine was appropriate in this case, noting Jun's remorse, the fact that the victim was a public service worker and that the offence was not premeditated.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Jun could have been jailed up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both
