A Singapore man ended up suing the woman he hoped to become romantically involved with after learning that she only viewed him as a friend.

Mr Kawshigan and Ms Tan met in 2016 and gradually became friends. Friction between them first appeared around the year 2020, when it became clear that they viewed their relationship very differently. While Tan regarded Mr Kawshigan only as a friend, he considered her to be his “closest friend” and confessed to wanting to be more than friends. At this point, the woman asked that her friend acknowledge the need for boundaries and expressed her desire to reduce the frequency of interactions between them. In response, Mr Kawshigan sent her a letter threatening to sue her for emotional trauma and “possible defamation”.

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Any reasonable person would have cut off all communication with the “friend” threatening legal action, but Ms Tan apparently wanted to reason with her friend, so she attempted to explain that she was genuinely disturbed by his attitude. Mr Kawshigan doubled down on his threats, saying that she could either give in to his demands to deepen their relationship or suffer irrevocable damage to her personal and professional life.

In the middle of the two parties’ negotiations, Mr Kawshigan’s counselor intervened and asked Ms Tan to take part in his client’s therapy sessions. The woman agreed, thinking that the counseling would help Kawshigan come to terms with her decision not to pursue a romantic relationship with him. She was wrong…

After a year and a half of therapy, Ms Tan decided to stop accompanying Mr Kawshigan, as she considered it a futile effort to make him see reason. He did not take it very well. The man started harassing Ms Tan with messages and phone calls, and she had no choice but to start harassment proceedings against him in April of 2022. By mid-May, she ceased all communication with him, because she couldn’t deal with his constant demands that they spend more time together.

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On July 7 of last year, Mr Kawshigan filed a High Court claim against his love interest, claiming that due to negligence and certain remarks on her part, he suffered both emotional trauma that resulted in costs incurred in rehabilitation and therapy programs and a loss in earning capacity and business partnerships.

A month later, Mr Kawshigan filed a magistrate’s court claim, alleging a breach of an agreement to improve their relationship, whatever that means. A Singapore Judge threw out his case, arguing that it amounted to an abuse of the court process. However, the High Court case, in which Kawshigan is asking for $2.3 million in compensation, is fixed for a pre-trial hearing on Feb 9.