SINGAPORE – Trying to protect her boyfriend who had punched a man he thought was staring at her, a woman lied to the police that her boyfriend did so because the man had molested her.

This resulted in the police investigating the 35-year-old man for an offence he did not commit.

On Jan 12, Tan Qiu Yan, 24, was sentenced to one week’s jail after pleading guilty to one charge of giving false information to a public servant.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Vincent Ong said the victim was walking along Lavender Street on Aug 11 when he saw Tan and her boyfriend, Tan Jek He, 23, walking towards him.

He moved to make way for them, but as they passed by, Tan Jek He thought the victim was staring at his girlfriend.

Tan Jek He confronted the victim, who denied that he was staring, and punched the older man in his left cheek, which caused a laceration on his lower jaw.

The victim tried to push him away, but the latter continued disputing with him.

The victim then walked away and called his friends for help.

Shortly after, he met his friends and they confronted Tan Jek He at Kitchener Complex.

When the police arrived, Tan Qiu Yan claimed that the victim had touched her buttock and that her boyfriend had retaliated by punching him.

Her boyfriend gave a similar story to the police regarding the incident.

DPP Ong said the couple had conspired to cover up for Tan Jek He, as he had recently been released from prison for a previous offence, and they were worried that he would get into trouble for punching the victim. It was not stated in court documents what his previous offence was.

Tan Qiu Yan had come up with the idea that she was molested by the victim. The couple agreed that if there were investigations into the matter, they would tell the police that the victim was punched as he had molested her by touching her buttock.

DPP Ong said: “Both accused persons knew this to be false and that saying so would shift the blame for the incident to the victim, and cause the police to investigate the victim for the purported molestation.”

When the police took the victim’s statement, he denied that he had touched the woman and hit her boyfriend.

Further police investigations using closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage ultimately revealed that there had been no contact between the victim and Tan Qiu Yan.

On Aug 22, when the police recorded another statement from Tan Qiu Yan, she persisted in her account that the victim had molested her. It was only after she was shown the CCTV footage that she admitted that he did not, in fact, molest her.

Seeking one to two weeks’ jail for Tan Qiu Yan, DPP Ong said: “The potential harm to the victim was high. The net effect of the lie was that the police would be weighing (the couple’s) words against those of the victim. With ostensibly no corroboration on either side, the coordination of the story between (the couple) made their lie more believable.”

The prosecutor added that it was fortunate that the police had obtained footage of the incident before they took further steps to investigate the victim.

“The victim was not arrested or subjected to further interrogation. However, it is of no credit to (the couple) that their falsehood was uncovered by the CCTV footage,” said the DPP.

In mitigation, Tan Qiu Yan asked for a lighter sentence as she is currently four months pregnant.

But District Judge Paul Chan said he did not consider this a mitigating factor, adding: “Your sentence is relatively short, and I am sure the prison will be able to provide you with necessary medical attention should the need arise.”

Tan Jek He’s matter is still before the courts, and he is expected to plead guilty to his offences in March.