Woman survives 12-storey fall, faces suicide bid charge

SINGAPORE - A Chinese woman who survived a fall from the 12th floor of a Singapore apartment building now faces a criminal charge for attempted suicide, a media report said Saturday.

Zhou Zhi Hui, 26, Friday tried to escape from her flat after a heated argument with her landlord when she lost grip at a balcony and plunged about 40 metres into a swimming pool, the Straits Times newspaper reported.

Although the pool’s water was just between 0.5 and 1.35 metres deep, she apparently suffered only light injuries, it said.

Zhou had been arrested for attempted suicide because she had threatened to jump during the dispute, but was out on bail, the report said.

According to Singapore law, attempted suicide is regarded as a crime and can be punished with a jail term of up to one year, a fine or both.

But Zhou, who arrived in Singapore just last month from China’s Shandong province, denied any intention to kill herself.

“I just wanted to get out of the house. I never thought of killing myself,” the paper quoted her as saying.