SINGAPORE – A woman was fined $5,000 on Friday (June 18) for slapping an eight-year-old girl’s face in an MRT train after the latter accidentally stepped on her foot.
A district court was told that the girl apologised to Connie Soh who was talking loudly on her phone and did not hear the child.
Soh, now 46, thought that the girl had failed to apologise and committed the offence.
The Singaporean pleaded guilty last month to one count of voluntarily causing hurt.
Some time before 1.47pm on July 15 last year, the victim accidentally stepped on Soh’s left foot after boarding an MRT train with her mother at Choa Chu Kang station.
Soh did not hear the child’s apology and confronted her mother.
The mother said her daughter had given one, and an argument ensued.
When the train reached Yew Tee station, Soh slapped the victim to try to prevent her from leaving,
The girl burst into tears and her mother alerted the police soon after.
Later that day, the mother took her daughter to National University Hospital where she was found to have a bruised left cheek.
The child was also given two days of medical leave.
For voluntarily causing hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $5,000.
A person who targets a child below 14 can face double these punishments.
