Two Indian women transiting through Singapore’s Changi Airport earlier this month were caught stealing from retail stores and have now been penalised by a local court. The sentencing was delivered on Monday, June 16, with one of the women receiving a jail term while the other was fined.
Simran Goenka, 29, who had travelled to Singapore from Kolkata and was en route to Bali, was sentenced to eight days in jail after she pleaded guilty to one count of theft in dwelling. Another similar charge was taken into consideration during her sentencing.
While waiting for her connecting flight, she visited shops at Terminal 3 and entered the Furla store around 1.40 pm. There, she took a yellow purse valued at over SGD 300, placed it on her luggage trolley, and exited the store without making payment. She also admitted to stealing a bottle of perfume worth more than SGD 200 from a cosmetics outlet at Terminal 2.
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Prasha Garg, 30, was fined SGD 700 after admitting to a separate count of theft. She had entered the Charles & Keith store at Terminal 2 after arriving from India and, while browsing around 7 am, took a black haversack bag worth over SGD 80 by placing it into her luggage trolley and leaving without paying.
Her actions were noticed by a store employee, leading to a police report. Garg was quickly found and arrested with the bag recovered in its original condition.
The court noted that Garg had committed the offence within an hour of arriving in Singapore. Under Singapore law, theft can carry a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both. Theft in dwelling is treated more seriously, carrying a potential jail sentence of up to seven years along with a fine.
