Vietnam woman bit cop viciously to resist arrest

SINGAPORE - Hell hath no fury like a woman cornered.

First, she pleaded, then she struggled, finally she bared her fangs and sank her teeth into the hand of a police officer.

This was what happened when a young Vietnamese woman aggressively resisted arrest despite being outnumbered by police officers in Geylang.

She was among a group of women, believed to be prostitutes, fleeing from the police at Geylang Lorong 24 and Jalan Suka at around 10am on Sunday.

When an officer caught up with her, she tried pleading with him to let her go. When that didn't work, she turned violent and tried to break free from the officer's grasp, a taxi driver who saw the incident told Shin Min Daily News.

The cabby, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lee, 50, recorded a video of the incident. He said the woman, who looked to be in her 20s, was kicking and screaming.

"Even her slippers got kicked off," he said.

The woman refused to give up the fight even when another officer rushed forward to help subdue her. She struggled so forcefully that she fell.

Woman resists arrest in Geylang and even bites cop 4 times
Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: Stomp via Omy.sg)

 

 

When she got back to her feet, she resorted to the only weapon handy - her teeth, sinking them into the left hand of the first officer. 

This, despite the fact that one of her wrists had been cuffed, Mr Lee said.

The woman bit the cop at least three or four times, he added. And the bites were so vicious that they left teeth marks on his hand and drew blood.

Shin Min reported that the incident had started from an anti-vice raid on the area, which is notorious as a hangout for prostitutes and their pimps.

But a police spokesman clarified on Tuesday that it was a routine police check.

During the check, eight Vietnamese women were seen running out of Jalan Molek towards a nearby petrol station.

Four managed to escape while the other four boarded a taxi, Shin Min reported.

The driver of the taxi, unaware of what was happening, tried to reverse his vehicle and almost knocked over a policeman who was pursuing the women.

When the cabby stopped his vehicle, the women jumped out and tried to flee but the police officers caught up with them.

Resisted arrest

That was when the woman tried to resist arrest.

Shin Min reported that she was among 11 women arrested by the police, but their spokesman would only confirm the arrest of the woman who bit the cop for voluntarily causing hurt to a police officer.

It is not known if the officer needed medical treatment for his injury.

Police investigations are ongoing.

When The New Paper went to the area last Tuesday night, prostitutes and pimps were out in force at Geylang Lorong 24 and the adjoining alleys.

Residents in the double-storey terrace houses there said the problem has got worse in recent years.

One of them, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Han and has lived on the street for 17 years, said that while prostitution has always been around, it has become more rampant in the past two years.

She said: "When we moved in, it was very quiet. Only recently has it become so busy. Obviously we are worried, but we're more or less used to it."

The Hans have four children, of which three are teenage girls. One daughter, a Saint Andrew's Junior College student, said she was not very worried about safety as she grew up in the area.

Their maid, however, said she feels scared when walking down the street, especially at night.

Mrs Han said: "The pimps and prostitutes here recognise us as residents. They know not to bother us.

"I think there are very few residents left, maybe fewer than 10. The rest of the houses are occupied by workers.

"Fights break out occasionally, but we don't normally bother with them. Our doors and windows are always closed to block out the noise."

Another resident, Mr Thio, who has lived at Jalan Suka for the past year, said the pimps don't bother him and his Vietnamese wife.

Even so, he's protective of his wife. She stays home most of the time and goes out only when he is with her.

They have a five-year-old daughter who is in Vietnam as Mr Thio does not want her to grow up in such an environment.

"I already have to look after my wife, making sure my daughter is safe will be too much," he said.

At one point in the interview, he shouted at a pimp standing outside his rented house, staring at him and his wife.

"What you looking at? Never see before?" he shouted in Hokkien, as his wife quickly disappeared indoors.


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