Indian-origin woman faces charges for refusing to wear mask in Singapore

An Indian-origin woman in Singapore has been charged with five counts, including use of criminal force, in a court for refusing to wear a face mask for protection against coronavirus and assaulting a police officer who tried to ascertain her identity.

Kasturi Govindasamy Retnamswamy was arrested after the incident that happened at a shopping mall on May 7 and was captured on video.

The 40-year old was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric evaluation after the incident.

According to The Straits Times, she was taken to a court on Saturday and faced with five charges, including use of abusive words and criminal force against a public servant.

The next hearing is scheduled for May 22 after her remand in the IMH.

The woman is believed to have insulted the mall staff and hurled abuses at a security officer who was trying to get her to put on her mask correctly.

The widely-shared video of the incident shows a woman taunting a mall employee, demanding that he removes his face mask to speak to her.

The mall staff informed the police and when the officers requested to see her identity, she allegedly started peeling off the address sticker on her identity card.

Retnamswamy is the second person of Indian origin to be remanded at the IMH for psychiatric evaluation after the incident involving face masks.

Paramjeet Kaur, 40, who made headlines after videos emerged of her claiming to be a sovereign, when confronted for not wearing a mask in public, was charged on May 5 with one count of being a public nuisance and three counts of violating COVID-19 rules.

Kaur, a Singaporean, will attend her next court hearing on May 19.