Woman charged with meeting boyfriend, not wearing mask properly during circuit breaker

SINGAPORE: A woman was charged in court after she allegedly left her house twice to meet her boyfriend during the COVID-19 "circuit breaker" period. 

Renukha Arumugam, 30, was charged on Friday (May 22) with five counts under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020. 

These include two charges of meeting individuals not from her household for a social purpose, two of leaving her house without reasonable excuse and one count of not wearing a mask properly when outside.

Court documents did not indicate how she was caught.

According to charge sheets, she left her house on three occasions: Twice to meet her boyfriend and a third time to meet a friend.

At about 3am on Apr 12, she allegedly left her Jurong West flat to meet her boyfriend at a stone bench in front of Block 713, Clementi West Street 2.

Five days later, she allegedly left her flat again at 12.30pm on Apr 17 to meet her boyfriend at Block 713, Clementi West Street 2.

She is also accused of not wearing her mask over her nose and mouth at the entrance of the car park at Block 724, Clementi West Street 2 at 1.30pm that same day.

She faces a fifth charge of meeting another individual, who was not specified, from a different household at 10.50am on Apr 29 at Block 433, Jurong West Street 41.

The police said in a statement that she met this person, a friend, to go to a supermarket.

Renukha told the court that she was "really sorry for everything" and did not intend to break the law.

"I'm unemployed, so if you are going to give me a heavy fine, I don't think I can pay," she said.

She will return to court on Jun 10 to plead guilty. She faces a maximum six months' jail, a fine up to S$10,000, or both per charge.

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