'It was the mental trauma': Drag queen accuses man of name-calling, assault at MBS

A gang of six friends were looking for a bite at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands after a night of partying, but they ended up being involved in a physical altercation. 

They posted a series of Instagram stories detailing the incident, which had occurred at around 5.45am on Sunday (March 10).

Instagram user Kira Moon said that she and her friends were searching for food options at the mall after leaving the Marquee nightclub. Out of the blue, a man, who was with seven other men, shouted "bapok" (a derogatory Malay slang term for transvestite) at them several times.

Kira's friend, who goes by Kyl Hermanns on Instagram, said in his story: "Two of us were in full drag, and three out of five of us are drag queens." 

When contacted on Tuesday, Kira recounted the incident to AsiaOne.

After the alleged name calling, she had turned back to confront the man, whom Kira claimed responded "aggressively".

He and the other men continued the name calling, which then escalated into a scuffle that lasted eight to 10 minutes.

According to Kira, one of the men pulled her wig off and pushed her to the floor, causing her head to hit a glass panel.

When her male friend came to her defence, he was punched and kicked in the face by the men, she added. The assault left her friend with bruises on his face as well as a footprint mark stretching from his eye to his cheek.

Another friend also stepped in to try to break up the fight and the mall's security officers arrived soon after.

'The word that haunted me my whole life'

Kira said the group of eight men ran off, though the man who had first verbally harassed them earlier returned a few minutes later to apologise, claiming that he was drunk. 

But she did not accept the apology.

"My friend called the police because the man started being vocally aggressive again and fought with the security officers," she said.

However, she added that she was told by the police officers who had arrived at the scene that the assailant could not be arrested for voluntarily causing hurt even though there was purportedly evidence from the mall's CCTV footage.

Voluntarily causing hurt is a non-arrestable offence in Singapore, where an arrest can only be made after the police obtains a warrant of arrest from the courts. 

After the incident, Kira wrote in her Instagram story: "The most traumatic part wasn't the physical pain. It was the mental trauma they put me and my friends through, and it was incredibly triggering because [the slur] was the word that haunted me my whole life."

In an Instagram post on Monday, Kira updated that the police are investigating the case and thanked those who had supported her and her friends.

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She wrote: "Don't be sorry for being you. Don't let others disrespect you because of ego and pride but instead, stand up for yourself because you respect yourself." 

Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they were alerted to a case of voluntarily causing hurt along 10 Bayfront Avenue at around 6.10am on Sunday.

A 29-year-old man refused to be taken to hospital, said the police. AsiaOne understands that the man is Kira's friend, who was hurt during the altercation.

Investigations are ongoing.

ALSO READ: Wrong place, wrong time? 2 women assaulted by group at Marquee puzzled by unprovoked attack

lim.kewei@asiaone.com