Facing arrest after being allegedly caught stealing from a shop, a man literally took matters into his own hands.
He reportedly stabbed himself with a pair of scissors, shocking people at the store in Hougang Green Shopping Mall.
Source: Google Maps
Ms Zhong Jiamin (transliterated from Mandarin), a 33-year-old employee of the household goods store, told Shin Min Daily News that the man was a frequent customer.
When he visited the shop on Saturday (24 May) afternoon, he was seen taking a radio and some memory cards, then walking into a blind spot.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
After he emerged, his hands were empty, she said.
She thus checked CCTV footage and saw that he had put the items into a bag and left.
Ms Zhong then rushed out and found the man drinking nearby and brought him back to the store.
She called her boss, with the man appearing calm at that moment.
But when the shop’s owner arrived, he suddenly knelt on the floor and kowtowed, pleading to be let off.
The owner told Shin Min that the man had allegedly taken items worth more than S$100.
Although the man begged for mercy, he insisted on calling the police as he was worried that more people would start stealing from his shop if he let him off.
As the man was begging for mercy, he suddenly picked up a pair of scissors from the store, opened its packaging and stabbed his left arm with it, Ms Zhong said.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
He then smeared his own blood on himself, horrifying everyone.
Another store employee said the man’s upper body was covered in blood, especially his hands.
55-year-old Ms Zhuo Zhenzhen (transliterated from Mandarin), the supervisor of a nearby religious supplies store, said she saw the man kneeling on the floor and shouting, “Auntie, uncle, please save me, lend me S$200!”
He was holding on to his bleeding left wrist, with a blood trail of at least 3m long on the floor in front of the counter.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The scene was “scary” and caused her nightmares, she added.
After the police were called, paramedics arrived and bandaged the man’s wound, the shop employee said.
He was then escorted away by the police in a wheelchair.
In the hospital, the police found more items on him, including an unopened memory card.
Part of the shop was closed off by the police for about three hours, with the cordon lifted at about 6pm, according to Shin Min.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The man is believed to be from a nearby nursing home, the shop’s owner said.
The owner of a grocery store in the area said inmates from the nursing home would visit the mall occasionally.
Because of this, there would sometimes be cases of shop theft, but he would pursue the matter if the amount was small.
In response to queries from MS News, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said it was alerted to a shop theft at about 3.20pm on 24 May.
It took place at 21 Hougang Street 51 — the address of Hougang Green Shopping Mall.
At the location, officers found a 45-year-old man with injuries that were believed to be self-inflicted.
The man was sent to the hospital in a conscious state.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force, which was called at about 3.30pm, conveyed him to Sengkang General Hospital.
After being sent to the hospital, the man was apprehended under Section 7 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008, SPF said.
It states that the police should apprehend a person if they believe that they may endanger their own life or the lives of others, and their conduct is suspected to be due to a mental disorder.
The man is also assisting with investigations into a case of shop theft, SPF added.
Police investigations are ongoing.
Also read: 67-Year-Old Man Stabs Himself At Sun Plaza Mall In Sembawang, Taken To Hospital