Local police have arrested a 37-year-old man on 29 June for attempted robbery inside a lift at Block 493D Tampines Street 43.
In a media release, police said they received a report about an unknown man entering the same lift as the victim and subsequently attempting to rob her while armed with a knife.
According to Channel NewsAsia, the victim suffered some cuts on her finger as the man tried to grab her handbag. However, the suspect has failed to grab any items from her.
The police were able to identify the suspect through footage caught on police cameras. The suspect was then arrested along Tampines Street 43.
The suspect was charged in court with attempted armed robbery on Jun 30. He will be sentenced to 7 years in jail and at least 12 strokes of the cane if found guilty.
On Jun 29, the same day the attempted robbery took place, a friend of the victim who goes by the name of “cha” had posted the victim’s personal account on Twitter under the handle @sy4za.
”cha” captioned her Twitter post as following:
“PSA: LADIES PLEASE BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS WHEN YOURE ON YOUR WAY HOME/LIFT LOBBY This happened to a friend of mine when she got home late. !!PLEASE SHARE AROUND!!”
https://twitter.com/sy4za/status/1012641662475034624?s=19
Under the post, two of the images contained the victim’s rehashing of the attempted robbery.
The victim described being “grabbed from behind”, which led her to “fight and protect my belongings”.
Initially the man only managed to get her cat-themed phone cover.
However, he ended up dropping the phone cover in the lift.
The victim further elaborated that she “only saw that he had a knife” at the very last minute. However, she “screamed and fought so much [that] he didn’t get to use it much”.
She ended up with “a rather inconvenient wound on the web of my right hand”, and with “a $120 A&E bill” that her brother had paid on her behalf.
The victim concluded her personal account with an expression of gratitude, and a warning for the “ladies out there” to “never take your safety for granted”.
“As safe as Singapore seems to be, nothing is guaranteed.”
