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A disagreement over offerings at an event to commemorate the Hungry Ghost Festival led to fists being thrown between three women.
Two separate fights occurred on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, reported Shin Min Daily News.
Woman took offerings without permission
The brawl took place in the plaza between Chinatown Complex and the adjacent Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
Shin Min spoke to two of the women involved.
68-year-old Zeng Yuefeng (names in hanyu pinyin) said the event on Saturday (Aug. 6) was held primarily for nearby residents.
The fight was allegedly sparked when a woman suddenly appeared at the event and took the offerings without permission.
"She doesn't live nearby and doesn't come here usually, but she will appear when there's something up for grabs," said Zeng.
Zeng shared that the woman had targeted the fruits, grabbing two of everything.
When another woman told her not to take them, the two started quarrelling.
"I stepped in and tried to mediate, but ended up getting hit in the face," said Zeng.
She said she had bruises on her face from being punched, and that they felt very painful.
"I wanted to go to the hospital at first, but no one would accompany me. My injury felt better the next day, but I didn't think I'll get punched again," said Zeng.
She added that the event organiser had reminded the first woman not to take too much, as there were others who had not eaten.
Woman asked for three mangoes, then some grapes
The woman accused of taking the offerings is 69-year-old Sun Yuhua.
Sun told Shin Min she was invited to the event by another man, who had asked her to take some of the offerings to eat.
She had asked a woman if she could take three mangoes, but the woman raised her voice and refused, causing their scuffle.
"She didn't give me the mangoes, never mind. Afterwards I wanted to take some grapes, she shouted at me again, so I got angry. They were two women, one even took a white chair to hit me, which scratched and hurt leg. They also punched me. My cheek and the corner of my lip were injured."
Sun claimed the two women struck her but she did not retaliate.
However, Zeng stated she saw Sun take a chair and a broom to use as weapons, and was stopped by another man.
The next day, Sun reappeared at the same place and started scolding people, including Zeng.
They had an argument about what had happened the previous day and started tussling with each other.
Both parties sustained blows to the face.
Sun ended up calling the police.
Officers later arrived on the scene.
Event was crowdfunded by the community
Among the offerings, according to Zeng, were fish, crabs, prawns, roasted chicken and duck, as well as assorted fruits.
She said Sun used paper bags to wrap four or five prawns, some of the roasted chicken and duck, two mangoes and an entire bunch of bananas and drinks, and ended up getting stopped.
Another man who did not wish to be named said the organisers spent a few hundred dollars to hold the event, and were unlikely to have allowed Sun to take the offerings.
"This event was crowdfunded by the community, she should have asked if she was allowed to take the offerings. There are a lot of people here who don't like her."
Top images by Shin Min Daily News.