Since June, a woman tenant staying in a condo in Mount Sophia has been splashing water at a neighbour’s door.
This behaviour has continued even after numerous complaints, written warnings, police reports, and even a court order.
Though the woman is a tenant, the landlord has hesitated to do more than issue warnings thus far.
Left with no other recourse, the neighbour shares his story which spans across a six-month timeline.
According to the 73-year-old Mr Zhang, who manages a business in Singapore and overseas, the 55-year-old tenant moved into the unit directly opposite his condo flat at the end of May.
At the time, Mr Zhang and his wife, who’d lived in Singapore for over 16 years, were overseas.
They were thus surprised to meet their new neighbour, who almost immediately made her presence known by splashing water on their door the moment they returned to Singapore on 8 Jun 2023.
Image provided by Mr Zhang
Mr Zhang isn’t sure why she began to splash water, but both condo management and other neighbours had reported acts of harassment from the woman since she moved into the unit.
It also appeared that the woman had waited until Mr Zhang returned from overseas to splash the water at their doorstep.
When Mr Zhang called the police, they advised him to file a court order if the harassment persisted.
The 73-year-old also took further steps to capture the woman’s behaviour.
“The condo management advised us to install a CCTV outside our door so that we’ll have evidence of the act,” Mr Zhang told MS News.
Despite the presence of CCTVs, the woman continued to splash water outside their flat nearly every day.
From 29 Aug, Mr Zhang made numerous police reports. He even remarked that “everyone at the nearby police stations know me already”.
Even though police officers would come to talk to her, the woman would persist in splashing water in the direction of Mr Zhang’s flat.
He noted that sometimes, she would even do so immediately after the officers have left.
Image provided by Mr Zhang
All Mr Zhang could do was call the police whenever the incidents would occur. However, the police warnings appear unheeded.
“If we retaliate, we’d be the ones in trouble,” he said, noting they weren’t “crazy” enough to do so anyway.
Eventually, Mr Zhang filed a court order under the Protection from Harassment Act, which took effect from 28 Oct.
He was told that police would be able to take action if she broke the terms of the order.
According to the documents seen by MS News, this prevents her from splashing water beyond a certain line.
However, the harassment only grew in frequency following the court order.
She continued to splash water outside their flat, sometimes up to four times a day.
On one particularly egregious occasion on 20 Nov, the woman knocked on their door with a cup hundreds of times. This was after she had splashed an unidentified liquid at their door.
Source: YouTube
Even though someone tried to stop her from knocking on the door, she continued to do so, leaving black marks.
The constant splashing has also resulted in damage to the floor, door, and wood structure.
Image provided by Mr Zhang
On top of everything, the woman had also filed for a varying of the court order on 30 Oct, two days after the court order took effect on 28 Oct.
Her motivations remain unclear.
Within the filing she made, she alleged that it was Mr Zhang who had splashed the water instead, despite numerous pieces of evidence showing the opposite.
The landlord has also apparently been unhelpful.
Besides serving official warnings to the tenant, they have not appeared to take further steps to curb her behaviour or evict her.
The condo management’s police report on 6 Dec noted that the landlord could not be reached, even by the police.
“Condo management is aware of this case,” said a spokesperson to MS News.
“We have issued numerous warning letters to the tenant and have also tried to resolve this through the landlord.”
Additionally, they noted that they have made “many police reports” and will continue to provide Mr Zhang with the help he needs.
This includes “working with the authorities”. The condo management has also issued notices about the woman’s behavior.
In one notice dated 22 Jun and seen by MS News, the management sought patience as it worked with all parties to resolve the matter.
However, Mr Zhang said that the condo management only made their first police report on 6 Dec.
Meanwhile, he has filed over 30 police reports to date, as he was advised after the 28 Oct court order to file a report whenever the splashing would occur so that police can take action.
“It’s been six months [since the first complaint of harassment], and the management only filed a police report now,” Mr Zhang noted.
After the trouble started, Mr Zhang Googled the woman’s name and found out that she had two criminal convictions in 2018 and 2021.
MS News independently verified this information.
She was jailed for seven months in 2018 for assault to deter a police officer from discharge of their duty, as well as abusive language towards police officers.
The woman was also jailed for 10 weeks in 2021, for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.
While he has not sought damages and compensation for the door damages and distress caused, Mr Zhang plans to do so at a later date.
For the past six months, Mr Zhang and his wife have been unable to sleep well and have to watch when they leave the house.
Since the week of 27 Nov, the woman has not been sighted in the flat and the water splashing has ceased — for now.
“It is more peaceful for now, but for how long? We’re not sure when or if she will return,” Mr Zhang sighed.
Hopefully, Mr Zhang and his wife will have their peace restored for good.
Also read: Choa Chu Kang Resident Allegedly Pours Urine Into Neighbour’s Shoes, Even Leaves Bottle Behind
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Featured image provided by Mr Zhang.
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