SINGAPORE: A tiff between two women that began because one of them asked her eight-year-old son to use the women’s toilet ended in a physical altercation.
The mother of the boy also drove against traffic, accelerating towards the other woman.
Wang Jing, 39, was fined S$3,000 by a court on Friday (Sep 29) for her conduct.
She pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal force and a rash act endangering personal safety, with a third charge taken into consideration.
The court heard that Wang took her son to Block 750A Chai Chee Lane, a commercial office building, for basketball lessons on Jul 5 last year.
Around 3pm, Wang told her son to go to the toilet and he entered the women’s toilet while Wang waited outside.
At the time, 33-year-old Tan Siok Khim Irish and her colleague Ms Tay Lay Leng were inside the women’s toilet.
The two women and Wang’s son subsequently left the toilet and headed to the lift. While on the way, Ms Tay told Tan that Wang’s son was too old to be using the women’s toilet.
She said he should have used the men’s toilet at the other end.
Wang heard these comments. The four of them entered the lift to head to the ground floor.
While inside the lift, Wang exclaimed loudly that there was no issue with her son using the women’s toilet.
She began commenting about Tan’s appearance, saying she looked androgynous.
Tan confronted Wang, and the pair began quarrelling. Wang swung her hand towards Tan’s face, tearing her mask.
Ms Tay stood between the two women to separate them, and they alighted the lift at the ground floor.
While Ms Tay was leaving, she felt some “light hits on her back”, said the prosecutor.
Tan pulled her friend away and confronted Wang again. Wang told Tan that Tan’s mother should be ashamed for having a daughter like her.
This angered Tan, who pushed Wang in the chest, causing her to fall backwards.
Ms Tay then pulled Tan towards her and they walked away.
Wang went to her vehicle and drove around the premises to look for the two women.
When she spotted them at a zebra crossing, she drove against traffic and accelerated towards them, stopping just before hitting Ms Tay.
She then alighted from her car and pulled Tan by her shirt, repeatedly telling her not to leave and that she had called the police.
This continued until the police arrived.
Tan suffered mild bruising and swelling of her cheek, a mild bruise on her lips and abrasions on her neck.
For her part in the scuffle, Tan was fined S$1,000 earlier this month.
The prosecutor called for a fine of S$2,500 for Wang, noting that she was the initial aggressor.
However, medical reports suggested that Tan’s injuries were less serious.
For using criminal force, Wang could have been jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,500, or both.
For a rash act endangering personal safety, she could have been jailed up to six months, fined up to S$2,500, or both.