A court in Singapore has imposed hefty fines on nine Indian students for gathering at a rented apartment, in violation of the country’s “circuit breaker” rules to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The court on Wednesday heard the case and imposed fines ranging between SG$2,500 ($1,782) and SG$4,500 ($3,208) on the Indian students.
It noted that the incident occurred on May 5, during the Covid-19 “circuit breaker” period when it was illegal in the country to have guests at one’s household, or to meet other people for social purposes.
They were caught after an unidentified person called the police about “an altercation” at the apartment on Kim Keat Road, reported Channel News Asia.
When the police responded to a call at about 12.50pm (local time), they found 17 people inside the apartment.
Imposing the fine, district judge Bala Reddy said what could and could not be done in Singapore during the “circuit breaker” had already been widely publicised.
The “circuit-breaker” period began on April 7, when all non-essential work places were closed and residents were barred from leaving their homes except to buy food and groceries or to exercise alone in the neighbourhood. It ended on June 2.
Businesses that operate in settings with low transmission risks were allowed to reopen. Full hairdressing services, motor vehicle servicing, air conditioning servicing, printing, basic pet services and education bookshops and limited school activities have been allowed to resume as part of phase 1 of the reopening.
According to the health ministry, there are 36,922 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Singapore.
Three of the students fined, Navdeep Singh, 20, Sajandeep Singh, 21 and Avinash Kaur, 27, were tenants at the apartment. Navdeep and Sajandeep were given the highest fines of SG$4,500 each for inviting three people to the apartment.
Their guests, Arpit Kumar, 27, Karmjit Singh, 20, Mohammed Imran Pasha, 26, Sharma Lukesh, 21, Vijay Kumar, 20, and Waseem Akram, 33, were each fined SG$2,500.
Avinash was fined SG$3,500 ($2,496) for inviting one guest. Her guest’s case is pending. Six people — including the three accused tenants — are registered tenants of the unit.
One person was a sub-tenant who claimed to live there and three others said they were guests who had stayed over since May 4 after being evicted from their own lodging. The police found some of them sleeping in the living room. The remaining 7 people were guests of the accused.
Investigations revealed that some of the students had gathered there to study and attend online lectures, while some were invited over tea.
Navdeep and Sajandeep pleaded guilty to one charge each of breaking a Covid-19 regulation by inviting guests to their unit for a non-exempted reason, with two other charges taken into consideration. Avinash pleaded guilty to one charge of inviting a guest over to the unit. The guests pleaded guilty to a charge of meeting others for a social purpose.
