Singapore: A 37-year-old construction worker from India, Ramu Chinnarasa, was fined SGD 400 on Thursday for defecating outside ‘The Shoppes’ mall at Marina Bay Sands, a prominent casino resort. The incident took place on October 30 last year.
Ramu appeared in court and pleaded guilty to violating public cleanliness regulations under Singapore’s Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations, as reported by TODAY newspaper.
The act, which was caught on camera, quickly went viral on Facebook, gathering more than 1,500 likes, 1,700 comments, and 4,700 shares within two days.
According to reports, Ramu had consumed three bottles of hard liquor and spent time gambling at the Marina Bay Sands casino earlier that morning. At around 5 am, he left the casino and, still heavily intoxicated, needed to relieve himself. Unable to find a toilet, Ramu defecated outside a restaurant near the mall entrance at 7:01 am.
After the incident, he left the area and slept on a stone bench outside the casino until around 11 am, before heading back to his dormitory in Kranji.
Later that day, a security officer at Marina Bay Sands saw a viral video of Ramu defecating and reported it to the police. Ramu left Singapore the following day, on October 31, but returned later.
In June of this year, he attempted to re-enter the casino but was identified as an “undesirable guest” and was subsequently arrested.
During the court hearing, District Judge Christopher Goh Eng Chiang offered Ramu some advice, saying, “Do you know how to get the lowest fine? Don’t do this in public. Better still, don’t get yourself so drunk that this happens. I want you to know if this happens again — I hope not — the fine will be higher than today.”
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kiera Yu called for a fine of SGD 400 to SGD 500, noting that Ramu had defecated in public for about 10 minutes without attempting to clean up or notify any staff. She added that if not for the video, the faeces could have remained in the open for an extended period, which posed a significant risk to public cleanliness in a high-traffic shopping mall.
Under Singapore law, anyone found guilty of defecating in public can be fined up to SGD 1,000 for a first offence, with an additional fine of SGD 100 for every day the offence continues after conviction.
Indian Man Fined Over Rs 25,000 for Defecating at Marina Bay Sands Mall Entrance in Singapore world-news World News | Latest International News | Global World News | World News Today
