I suspect there's overcrowding, says woman accused of peeking into Bukit Merah rental flat

Is it harassment, or a case of misunderstanding?

Six people renting a flat at Block 30 Jalan Klinik in Bukit Merah have accused a neighbour of loitering along the common corridor, opening their window to peek into the house as well as spitting on their shoes.

Joel, 30, told Shin Min Daily News that she moved into the rental flat at the beginning of the year. It is not stated if the unit is a 3-room or 4-room flat.

The tenant, who is a nurse, said that she was resting in the living room at around 2am on Feb 24 when she suddenly heard noises coming from the common corridor.

Noticing that someone had opened the living room's window from the outside, she got up to investigate, only to find that the flat's metal gate had been pushed open.

Then, she saw their female neighbour standing outside.

"I questioned her, but she avoided the topic and said someone was throwing paper along the corridor before leaving hurriedly," recounted Joel. She said that the police visited the rental flat that afternoon.

The same neighbour would often loiter around the corridor outside their house and talk loudly on the phone, complained the other flatmates.

Two flats and a lift lobby separate the homes of both parties, said the tenants who pointed out that the woman has no reason to pass by their flat.

One tenant also told the Chinese evening daily that she had caught a glimpse of the woman spitting on their shoes last Saturday (March 2) afternoon.

"Later, I discovered water stains on one of the sneakers and immediately confronted her. However, she said it wasn't her doing and the shoe had gotten wet from the rain," said the tenant.

60-year-old Lin, who is renting out the flat on behalf of family, told Shin Min that she plans to install CCTV cameras outside the unit to help the tenants capture evidence. She also hopes that the neighbour would stop harassing the group of tenants.

New faces visiting the unit: Neighbours

When contacted by Shin Min, the neighbour admitted to opening the flat's window but denied the other accusations levelled against her.

She also stressed that she had not opened the metal gate of the rental flat.

"I noticed that this unit has been rented out to multiple groups of tenants over the past two years, and recently observed new faces visiting the unit," she explained.

"I suspect that the number of tenants living in the flat exceeds the quota of six occupants set by the authorities, so I opened the window to check the situation inside."

According to the Housing Development Board's website, a maximum of six and eight occupants are allowed in 3-room and 4-room flats respectively.

ALSO READ: 'She kept asking me questions': Woman calls cops on neighbour who allegedly won't stop looking into her window

lim.kewei@asiaone.com