12 months' probation for woman who wounded neighbour's religious feelings

Lee Dji Lin, who has delusional disorder, threw raw pork in front of her neighbour's flat, among other things. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

SINGAPORE - Even after she was given a Mandatory Treatment Order (MTO) for acts such as placing raw pork in front of her Malay-Muslim neighbour's flat, Lee Dji Lin chose to target her neighbour again.

She shouted twice at her 63-year-old neighbour, Madam Marliah Jonet, using words intended to hurt her religious feelings.

For her actions, she was sentenced by District Judge Brenda Tan to 12 months' supervised probation on Thursday (Feb 6). She was also ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment.

Court documents state that Lee, 66, lives directly below Madam Marliah in a block of flats in Tampines.

In 2016, Lee, who has delusional disorder, threw raw pork in front of Madam Marliah's flat, among other things.

She was subsequently given a two-year MTO in June 2017, which meant that instead of being jailed, she had to undergo treatment for her mental condition.

However, about two months before the end of her MTO, she insulted Madam Marliah again.

Court documents state that Madam Marliah was cleaning her home on April 24 last year when Lee became unhappy with the noise caused by her vacuuming.

From her flat, she shouted the words "anak babi", which means "baby pig" in Malay, at Madam Marliah.

Lee shouted at her again on June 11 last year when she was cleaning her home. Some of her words used include "makan babi", which means "eat pig" in Malay.

On both occasions, Madam Marliah called the police about Lee's actions.

Lee pleaded guilty on Nov 6 last year to two counts of wounding the religious feelings of Madam Marliah.

She was found unsuitable for another MTO by an earlier report. The details of the report were not revealed in court.

Lee's defence lawyer, Mr Chung Ting Fai, told the court on Thursday that Lee was unable to give a fixed date on when she would move to another home.

He had mentioned in an earlier hearing, when urging the court to call for a report on her suitability for probation, that Lee was in the process of moving out of her home.

The prosecution told the court that it had no objections to a probation sentence for Lee.

However, it noted that the proximity of her flat to Madam Marliah's, which is the main factor in her actions, has not been dealt with since she does not appear to be moving out in the near future.

For wounding the religious feelings of another person, Lee could have been sentenced to jail for up to three years, a fine or both.

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