Student who breached curfew lied that ex-boyfriend assaulted her
A 20-year-old student who did not want to get in trouble for breaching her curfew made a police report, falsely claiming her former boyfriend assaulted her and forced her into a van.
Tharuna Thirunavukkarasu pleaded guilty yesterday to making the false report.
The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East student had been out drinking with friends on Jan 19 and did not want to end up in prison.
At that time, she had to comply with e-tagging and a curfew after being released under a reformative training supervision scheme. She had been sentenced in September 2018 for offences that were not stated in the court documents.
Those in reformative trainingmust follow a strict regimen.
On Jan 19, she breached her curfew while drinking with friends in Telok Blangah and feared she could end up in prison.
The next day, she lied to a police officer that her former boyfriend slapped and punched her the previous afternoon.
She claimed he forced her into a silver van and drove her to a block in Telok Blangah where he took away her phone and wallet.
She was made to sit with him and his friends at the void deck of the block while they drank. He also threatened to cut her e-tag if she tried to leave, and she managed to escape only the next morning, she claimed.
The police tracked down her former boyfriend the day the report was made and learnt he was not with Tharuna during the time of the alleged offences and that he had received video calls from her where she appeared to be drinking.
The police confronted her with the evidence on Jan 25 and she admitted to falsely accusing him, saying she was also angry with him over their break-up.
District Judge May Mesenas called for a report to determine Tharuna's suitability for reformative training.
Tharuna has been remanded and is expected to be back in court for sentencing on May 6.
For making the false report, she can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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