$2,000 fine for student over unlawful gathering
A woman was fined $2,000 yesterday, the 10th and final student to be dealt with in court over an unlawful gathering in an apartment during the circuit breaker.
Indian national Bhullar Jasteena, 23, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.
Nine other Indian nationals, who were part of the gathering on May 5, had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges.
Two men, Navdeep Singh, 20, and Sajandeep Singh, 21, were each fined $4,500. A 28-year-old woman, Avinash Kaur, was fined $3,500.
The remaining six, all men, were each fined $2,500. They are: Arpit Kumar, 20; Vijay Kumar, 20; Sharma Lukesh, 21; Mohammed Imran Pasha, 26; Karmjit Singh, 30; and Waseem Akram, 33.
Details about the schools they attended were not stated in court documents.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh said Navdeep Singh, Sajandeep Singh and Kaur were then living in a three-bedroom rented apartment in Kim Keat Road.
The two male tenants invited the six other men over on May 5.
Kaur also invited Bhullar to the unit so that they could study together.
Bhullar arrived around 11.30am and remained in Kaur's room.
The court heard that the police were later alerted about an altercation at the unit.
When the officers arrived around 1pm, they found the offenders there.
Court documents did not reveal details about the tiff.
Yesterday, DPP Koh urged the court to sentence Bhullar to a fine of at least $2,000.
She said that even though the student spent only 80 minutes in the unit, her visit did not have an "agreed end-time" and would likely have continued had the police not gone there.
DPP Koh also said Bhullar had met Kaur for a "frivolous and completely unnecessary purpose in blatant disregard of the social distancing measures that the rest of society has taken pains to comply with".
For committing the offence under the Act, first-time offenders can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.
Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $20,000.
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