Boon Lay Cat Murder (2022)

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]

Photo adapted from Facebook.

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. Photo adapted fromTiktok and Facebook.

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. 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. 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. 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. 4.0 4.1 Justice For Panther”. Change.org. December 15,2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Should the boy who threw the cat be punished?”. Reddit. December 16,2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.
  6. Rest in peace Panther, we loved you… #fyp #sgviral #fypシ #viralvideo #catsoftiktok #cat #kucing #viraltiktok #budakdegil #dangerboy #boonlayTiktok. December 16, 2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.
  7. Janet Cashcash Chin. “at Blk 186 @ Boonlay”. Facebook. December 20,2022. Accessed on 21 December 2022.