A Malaysian court punished a Singaporean lady for filing a fictitious police report that she was almost kidnapped at a mall near Malaysia’s border with Singapore.
On Tuesday, Amyra Laila Ho pleaded guilty in front of Magistrate Hidayatul Syuhada Shamsudin after the charge was read out to her in English. The charge sheet stated that on Wednesday of last week, at around 1.02 am, she gave misleading information to the police officers at the Larkin police station.
Ho said that she was approached by a man and a woman at a retail centre along Jalan Seladang in Taman Abad on January 10 at around 1 pm.
The 45-year-old beauty influencer claimed that the man and the woman were peddling Chinese tea, but she turned them down. According to Ho, the woman then insisted that she inhale the tea leaves, which made her feel stiff and lightheaded.
She added that the other woman snatched her handbag, which contained 400 ringgit (US$91), while the male seized her right arm and claimed to be her husband. Ho disputed this.
She said her alleged attackers pushed her to the floor and fled when passersby started noticing what was happening.
M Kumar, police chief for Johor state, which includes the city of Johor Bahru, told BBC, “Based on CCTV recordings and technical evidence, no movement involving the victim was detected at the location.”
Police added that strict action would be taken against “anyone who deliberately spreads rumours or manipulates facts to cause public anxiety, particularly concerning safety issues”.
Ho, who was not represented, was charged under Section 182 of the Penal Code of Malaysia, which, if found guilty, carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison, a fine of up to 2,000 ringgit, or both. She was fined 1,000 ringgit (US$222) after entering a guilty plea.
Nur Fatihah Mohd Nizam, the deputy public prosecutor, brought the case.
