Just recently, we reported how Natalie Siow Yu Zhen would get her murder charge reduced and will not face the gallows.
She has since collected quite a big following here in Singapore, and seeing as she was the only girl involved in the brawl that ended with one person dead, we can understand why.
Here’s the video in case you would like a recap:
TODAYOnline reported that she would no longer face the death penalty. Instead, she will be charged with voluntarily causing hurt. If convicted Siow will face a maximum sentence of two years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Now, this is definitely a lot more lenient than if she were to face the death penalty.
However, according to Mothership, overseas news media from places such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and even Malaysia are reportedly saying that 23-year-old Natalie Siow Yu Zhen escaped the death penalty because…. she looks good.
Foreign Media Says Natalie Siow Was Excused From Death Penalty Coz’ She’s Pretty
Shin Min Daily pointed this out on 26 October after various Chinese media reports abroad claimed that Siow had been cleared of a murder charge because of her looks.
This essentially suggests that she escaped a charged punishable by death because of her looks.
Okay whoa, those are some serious allegations.
Siow’s lawyer has since quickly made it known that these allegations are false as seen on Shin Min’s front-page headline.
Of course, other overseas media outlets from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia were super quick to jump on the ‘Siow escaped the gallows because she’s pretty’ bandwagon.
According to Mothership, the reports by these media outlets mostly credit the reduction in Siow’s charges to the alleged fan club set up for Siow after she was involved in the murder at Orchard Towers.
The reports even stated that Siow had 220,000 fans who stood up and supported her because of her “innocent” and “pure” appearance.
The number “220,000” is reported to have been mistaken for the number of views a ‘fan club’ for Siow had received.
Misleading Foreign News Headlines
One such media’s headline is as follows: “Singapore’s female suspect was too pretty, netizens appeal to not sentence her to death and the court gives in”.
Another headline says, “Murder suspect becomes an influencer because of her beauty, 220,000 fans appeal and help her escape from death sentence”
Siow’s Lawyer Says Allegations By Foreign News Media Are False
In response to Shin Min Daily News, Siow’s lawyer has said that these allegations by the foreign news media are in fact false.
He also said that the claims were baseless and go against the integrity of the law. According to him, the public prosecutor considered various factors before finalising the decision to change the murder charge to assault.
These include the CCTV footage and other evidence, and that the decision wasn’t made based on public support.
Well, I’m glad that that’s all been cleared up. However, the fact still remains that most of us know who Natalie Siow is.
I mean, a quick google search gives me this:
That said, I’m gonna have to side her lawyer on this one. Ar bo then, eh?
