Woman claimed she had miscarriage at KKH in Wake Up, Singapore article, will face defamation charge
In 2022, a woman claimed that she had suffered a miscarriage at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).
This story, which was published by Wake Up, Singapore (WUSG), was revealed to be false.
Source: Google Maps
She will now be charged in court with defamation.
Woman claimed she waited at KKH for four hours
The woman’s impending defamation charge was announced in a news release on Sunday (5 May) by the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
It had to do with an article titled “The baby is probably dead – Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E”, which was published on WUSG’s website, Facebook page and Instagram page.
The article alleged that KKH’s mismanagement of healthcare services resulted in a female patient suffering a miscarriage.
She claimed she had waited four hours for Covid-19 treatment and abdominal pains at KKH’s Accident & Emergency Department on 28 Feb 2022.
KKH files police report after finding no record of incident
KKH filed a police report about the article on 25 March.
The hospital had earlier found no record of the incident, it told Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Source: Google Maps
Upon receiving the police report, SPF was authorised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to investigate.
Woman sent messages to WUSG with false allegations
The investigations found that the woman had purportedly contacted WUSG over Instagram.
In her messages, she described how she had suffered a miscarriage at KKH.
However, the allegations were untrue, further investigations found.
The same day that the KKH police report was made, Â WUSG apologised to KKH and their readers for sharing the woman’s false claim.
Source: Wake Up, Singapore on Facebook
She later apologised for making false claims to the page.
Woman to be charged with defamation over KKH miscarriage claims on 6 May
Due to her false claims, the woman will be charged in court on Monday (6 May), SPF said.
She will be charged with defamation under Section 500 of the Penal Code 1871.
Those convicted of the offence can be punished with a jail term of up to two years and/or a fine.
Man also charged with defamation on 24 April
She will be the second person charged with defamation in relation to this case, SPF added.
A 26-year-old man was charged in court with the same offence on 24 April.
In a news release on 23 April, SPF said the man was purportedly the administrator for WUSG’s website, Facebook page, and Instagram page.
A CNA report later identified him as Ariffin Iskandar Sha Ali Akbar.
He will return to court on 24 May.
Also read: Wake Up Singapore Gets POFMA Correction Order Over KKH Falsehoods, Site Operations Halted
Wake Up Singapore Gets POFMA Correction Order Over KKH Falsehoods, Site Operations Halted
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Featured image from MS News and adapted from Google Maps.
