Jail for woman who lied she was molested by a passerby so her boyfriend wouldn't get in trouble for assaulting him

SINGAPORE — When her boyfriend assaulted a passerby shortly after his release from prison, Tan Qiu Yan decided to give false information to the police, telling them that he retaliated because the man had molested her.

The 24-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to one week's jail on Friday (Jan 12) after she pleaded guilty to providing false information to the police. 

Her boyfriend, Tan Jek He, 23, has been charged with the same offence and another charge of voluntarily causing hurt, and will return to court on March 11 when he is expected to plead guilty.

The court heard that on the evening of Aug 11 last year, victim Zaman Sariful, 35, was walking along a covered walkway in Lavender Street while using his mobile phone.

Noticing that Tan and her boyfriend were walking towards him from the opposite direction, Mr Zaman moved to make way for them.

As the couple walked by, Tan's boyfriend thought that Mr Zaman was staring at his girlfriend and confronted him.

Even though Mr Zaman denied staring at Tan, her boyfriend punched Mr Zaman once on his left cheek, which resulted in a cut on his left lower jaw.

Mr Zaman then tried to push him away before walking away to call his friends for assistance.

THE PLAN

As Tan's boyfriend had been recently released from prison for a previous offence that was not disclosed in court documents, the couple was worried that he would get into trouble for hitting Mr Zaman.

The two decided to concoct a story to justify his actions, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Vincent Ong.

Tan came up with the idea of alleging that she had been molested by Mr Zaman.

They both agreed that if there were investigations into the assault, they would tell the police that her boyfriend acted only because Mr Zaman had touched her right lower butt cheek.

THE LIE

After Mr Zaman met with his friends, they searched for the couple and managed to detain Tan's boyfriend on a pavement near NTUC FairPrice at 808 Kitchener Complex.

One of Mr Zaman's friends then called the police.

When police arrived, they interviewed Tan about the incident.

She gave the police false information, stating that Mr Zaman had molested her and her boyfriend had retaliated by punching him. 

Tan also told police that she wished for action to be taken against Mr Zaman.

The police then took a statement from Mr Zaman, who denied touching Tan and hitting her boyfriend.

As a result of their false information, the matter was referred to the Special Victims Unit of the Singapore Police Force for further investigation into the alleged molestation.

The police obtained closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage which captured the incident.

Contrary to what was alleged by the couple, the CCTV footage revealed that there was no contact, at the relevant time, between Tan and Mr Zaman.

About 10 days later, a further statement was taken from Tan who persisted in giving the false information to the police, reiterating that she had been molested.

It was only after the CCTV footage was shown to Tan that she admitted to giving false information to the police and that Mr Zaman had not molested her.

SHIELDING BOYFRIEND FROM INVESTIGATION

Seeking a jail term of between one and two weeks, DPP Ong argued that Tan's culpability in the matter was high as she was an active participant in the conspiracy and not someone who was roped in for an illegal purpose.

"The accused knew that by falsely alleging that the victim molested her, the victim would be subject to investigations by the police, but she only cared about protecting her boyfriend from the lawful consequences of his criminal conduct," said DPP Ong.

In sentencing, District Judge Paul Chan said that there was a clear need for deterrence given the harm that could have been caused to the victim.

The judge added that while Tan's primary motivation was to protect her boyfriend, she was the most important actor in the couple's accounts to bolster the deception.

For providing false information to the police, Tan could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.