Man charged with saying he suspected he had coronavirus, coughing at another man in SingPost outlet
Vijayan Pillay Sandarasegaran in court on May 15, 2020. (Photo: TODAY/Ili Nadhirah Mansor)
SINGAPORE: A man was on Friday (May 15) charged with public nuisance and using threatening behaviour after he said he suspected he had coronavirus during a visit to the Singapore Post (SingPost) outlet in Tampines and coughed at another man.
Vijayan Pillay Sandarasegaran, 41, visited the SingPost outlet on Mar 30. He did not wear a face mask but coughed loudly and did not undergo the required temperature screening before entering the premises at 5 Tampines Central 6, charge sheets showed.
Vijayan is also accused of intentionally coughing twice towards a man's face. He did so with the intent to cause harassment to the man, according to court documents.
Vijayan, who said he works at a club, told the court that he intends to plead guilty but wants to engage a lawyer to help him with his mitigation.
"I just want to engage a counsel for my mitigation," he said. "Because I never approach anyone for any reason, people just approached me ... your honour, I'm sorry."
He will return to court next month.
If guilty of committing a public nuisance, he can be fined up to S$1,000. If convicted of using threatening behaviour, he can be jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$5,000 or both.
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