Mother and Daughter Plead Not Guilty in Charges Over Toilet Paper Brawl

Treiza Bebawy, 60 years old, and her daughter, Meriam Bebawy, 23 years old, are accused of fighting in a supermarket in Sydney Australia over tissue rolls. They are currently facing charges of unlawful violence, causing fear for safety. 

The mother and daughter recently pleaded not guilty to the accusation. 

The pleas were recorded in Bankstown Local Court in Australia last Tuesday. However, the case is adjourned to June 9.

The Tissue Altercation

In a video that made the rounds online last March, the two were seen in an altercation with another woman who was identified as Tracey Hinckson, 49 years old.

This incident happened when there was a panic buying of toilet paper in Australia.

The altercation happened shortly after the supermarket opened. The authorities were called at the store at about seven in the morning.

According to the report of the police, the conduct of the Bebawys 'would cause a person of reasonable firmness at the scene to fear for his or her safety,' that is why they were charged with unlawful violence, causing fear for safety. 

Hinckson was not injured in the incident.

If convicted, the mother and daughter duo will face ten years in jail.

Tissue Shortage

After the coronavirus outbreak, Australians were in a haste to clear the shelves for toilet paper in the supermarkets. This instance led to an alleged shortage of toilet paper supplies in the country, although manufacturers said that this is not the case.

Families, according to reports, bought tissue paper due to the fear of citywide closures or lockdowns.

But Why Did People Panic Buy Tissue Rolls?

According to a report by CNN, there is a psychology behind this.

First, people tend to see the extremes when they hear conflicting messages. In the case of the pandemic, people are scared but a lot of things are still not known to many. Except for the continuous reminders of health experts that hand washing is the key to something as dangerous as the coronavirus, people feel it is not proportioned to the threat. So, they resort to extremes.

Also, the lack of clear direction from officials led to families house supplies. Baruch Fischhoff, a psychologist from Carnegie Mellon University, said that people are left to guess what they are really in need of since there were no official promises of being taken care of by the government.

It is also human nature to overprepare. Frank Farley, the former president of the American Psychological Association, says that despite the fuss over panic buying, there may be practicality in stocking up. The pandemic caused survivalist psychology, according to Farley. That is because people thought they must live at home as much as possible, so they needed to stock up on home essentials.

Lastly, it gives people a sense of control. Buying toilet paper may seem like a simple act, but experts say that it is a way for people to prepare and have a feeling of control in a situation that seemed helpless. Stocking up on toilet paper could be a way for people to free their minds of the worries about the coronavirus, especially if they feel they have done everything they could after buying some tissue rolls