Boon Lay Cat Murder (2022)
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A Boon Lay community cat, affectionately known as Panther by the residents, was found dead near Block 186 Boon Lay Avenue.[1] Panther died from an unnatural cause and was discovered to be due to the impact of falling from a height.[1] This case sparked off many citizens’ fury as the perpetrator is a minor and has not been arrested nor taken into custody as of 21 December 2022.[1]
Details of incident
On the 14 December 2022, Umi Solikati, 39 year-old, Boon Lay resident had reportedly found their community cat, Panther, dead near Block 186 Boon Lay Avenue around 2pm, according to The Straits Times.[1] It was later revealed that the cat had been thrown off the 22nd floor of a Block in Boon Lay. The perpetrator was a 10 year old boy.[2]
Upon confrontation, the boy in question initially denied his actions. He later confessed to this act on further questioning.[2][3] The boy has said that he did it as he "did not receive love and care from his family".[3]
Chan Mui Mui, 49, another Boon Lay resident who regularly fed the cats, had told Straits Times that Panther’s death wasn’t an outlying incident and that there had been 5 cats thrown off the same block in the past 2 to 3 years.[1]
Responses
A 1-minute video of the incident taking place circulated on the internet on Thursday.[1] There has been a heated debate on whether or not the boy should receive legal punishment for his actions as a minor.[2]
Change.org Petition
A Change.org Petition seeking Justice for Panther was created shortly after the video was posted by Nadya Im to bring the issue to the attention of Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law.[4] As of December 2022, over 69,144 signatures have been collected.[4]
Reddit Thread Discussion
On 16 December 2022, a Reddit thread was also created in the community r/askSingapore discussing whether or not the boy or his guardians should be the ones responsible for his actions.[5] Majority of the users who commented pushed for punishing stating that perpetrator "knew what he was doing”, with some raising concerns about his actions and the link to psychopathy.[5]
Further Developments
Panther’s Memorial
The Boon Lay residents held a makeshift memorial for Panther on 17 December 2022.[6] Tiktok user @ummycatty posted a video of the makeshift memorial.
Many visited the memorial subsequently and it was soon filled with flowers, canned cat food and stuffed animals.[7]
References / Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 “AVS probe under way after video shows boy throwing cat off 22nd storey of HDB block”. The Straits Times. December 16, 2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 “Singaporean boy caught on camera flinging cat off 22nd floor triggers punishment debate.” Yahoo! News. December 20, 2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “Boon Lay cat Panther's makeshift memorial flooded by flowers & soft toys as S'poreans honour him”. Mothership. December 20,2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 “Justice For Panther”. Change.org. December 15,2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 “Should the boy who threw the cat be punished?”. Reddit. December 16,2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.
- ↑ “Rest in peace Panther, we loved you… #fyp #sgviral #fypシ #viralvideo #catsoftiktok #cat #kucing #viraltiktok #budakdegil #dangerboy #boonlay” Tiktok. December 16, 2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.
- ↑ Janet Cashcash Chin. “at Blk 186 @ Boonlay”. Facebook. December 20,2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.