Woman admits placing raw beef on neighbour’s doorstep because she believed he molested her

Wanting to scare her neighbour and give him a warning, a woman placed raw beef on a man’s doorstep and shouted before leaving.

However, she instead caused distress to the man’s mother, who does not consume beef.

Farhana Mohamed Suwati, 31, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Apr 21) to a charge each of mischief and using insulting behaviour with intent to cause distress. A third charge will be considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Farhana lived next door to the victims, a 48-year-old man and his 79-year-old mother.

On one night in May 2020, Farhana approached the victims’ flat and placed raw beef on the doorstep. She shouted “wei” and left.

The elderly woman was at home when this happened and felt distressed and angry, especially she did not eat or touch beef, court documents said

The victims’ relative lodged a police report saying their neighbour had thrown something at the flat, and that they had “history before this”.

Farhana later said she committed the offence as she thought the woman’s son had molested her in early 2019. She wanted to scare him and give him a warning, as she believed he was in the flat at the time.

On Sep 10, 2020, the victims were at home with their door open when Farhana went to their flat and hurled vulgarities at them. She then removed five aluminium window panels and three metal rods from the victims’ living room window and threw the window panels inside their flat.

Farhana said she did so as she was easily annoyed by noises and would “explode” in anger. Earlier that day, she heard a cough from the victims’ home. She later heard another sound from their flat while she was taking out the rubbish and lost her patience.

The Housing and Development Board paid S$82.73 to repair the window.

Court documents did not indicate any mental illness on the accused’s part, but the judge called for a report assessing her suitability for a mandatory treatment order and adjourned sentencing to May.

For mischief, she could be jailed up to two years and fined. For using insulting behaviour to cause distress, she could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$5,000, or both.