Man who dragged girlfriend by hair, kicked her, stomped on her head given jail

SINGAPORE: A man has been sentenced to jail for dragging his girlfriend by the hair outside a beach club in Sentosa and kicking her in the face while she lay defenceless on the ground.

For his acts, Rahiman Rahim, 31, was sentenced on Wednesday (Jun 23)  to two months in jail for voluntarily causing hurt to the woman. He was also fined S$1,000 for a separate incident - using criminal force against a taxi driver.

The court heard that the couple, who have broken up, had met friends at Rumours Beach Club at 4.40pm on Jul 29 last year for a drinking session. Both the accused and victim were drunk when they got into an argument a few hours later at about 8pm.

Rahiman then pulled the victim out of the club with his arm around her head, the court heard. Their argument continued on the footpath directly outside the club.

Rahiman slapped and punched the 32-year-old woman, causing her to fall to the ground and he shouted at her while she sat there. The prosecution described what followed after from around 9pm for a period of a minute as a “particularly cruel” attack.

DRAGGED HER HAIR, KICKED HER AND STOMPED ON HER HEAD

Rahiman dragged the victim by her hair for about two metres along the footpath. He dropped her, and while she was lying on her side on the footpath, threw one of her belongings at her head. He then walked around her, shouting at her.

The court heard that during this time, at least seven people walked by. None of them offered to help the victim. Camera footage played in court showed these people gathering for a short while or walking past.

Rahiman then kicked the victim once in the face, causing her to fall onto her back and roll sideways. She rolled onto her knees and bent over, clutching the back of her head with one hand.

While she was in this position, with her back to him, the accused kicked her once at the bottom of her spine.

“The accused then stomped once on the back of her head and kicked her once in the side of the head. The accused then kicked the victim three times in the face while she lay on the ground, defenceless,” court documents read.

WITNESS INTERVENED

A 20-year-old man who was nearby and heard the commotion told his friend to call the police and made his way forward to separate Rahiman from the woman.

Seeing him approaching, Rahiman walked up to the witness, placed his hand on the witness’ chest, and told him not to get involved, the court heard.

The witness replied that he wanted to check on the victim and said that the police was on the way. Rahiman threw the victim’s belongings on the ground, told the witness that they belonged to the victim, and returned to the club.

The witness then carried the victim, who was lying on the ground, crying in pain, to where his friends were. They gave her water and antiseptic wipes and comforted her till the police and paramedics arrived, the court heard.

Rahiman returned to the scene shortly after and admitted to the offence to the attending police officers and told them that he had “lost control” during the argument.

VICTIM SUFFERED SEVERAL INJURIES

The victim was taken to Singapore General Hospital by ambulance, but on arrival said that she did not need medical attention and wanted to go home to rest. However the next day, realising the state of her injuries, the victim sought medical attention at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, the court heard.

She was found to have suffered injuries to her face and arm, as well as multiple abrasions.

At a follow-up appointment on Aug 19, X-ray findings indicated a suspected nasal bone fracture which would require further review. However, the court heard that the victim did not turn up for subsequent appointments.

“The victim later said that she felt traumatised that the accused, someone she loved, had done this to her,” court documents read.

ALTERCATION WITH CABBY

In a separate incident, Rahiman on Nov 12 last year got into an altercation with a 58-year-old taxi driver at the taxi stand at Chinatown Point mall. The incident happened at about 8.30pm when the taxi driver and Rahiman, who was working as a Grab delivery rider, were trying to enter the taxi stand.

When the victim was about to make a left turn into the taxi stand, Rahiman sounded his horn at the victim to indicate that he was similarly turning left, and swerved in front of the victim from the victim’s right side, the court heard.

“The victim, thinking that a friend had sounded the horn, sounded his horn once in reply,” according to court documents.

Rahiman approached the victim’s taxi and asked: “You stupid or what?” He also challenged the victim to a fight. At the time, there were at least four members of the public observing them, the court heard.

Rahiman hit the top of the victim’s taxi and walked into the mall. The victim, who had left the taxi stand stopped his taxi further down, alighted and walked over to Rahiman’s motorcycle to take a photograph of its licence plate number.

Rahiman had returned to his motorcycle by this point, the court heard.

According to court documents, Rahiman became angry when he saw the victim trying to take a photograph of his licence plate number, “as he believed that the victim was taking a photograph or video of him”.

He approached the victim “aggressively” and demanded that he delete the photograph, the court heard.  He then pushed the victim’s hands once, causing the victim’s handphone to fall to the ground and crack. Rahiman then swept the victim’s handphone away with his foot.

“The victim quickly picked his handphone up. The accused tried to snatch the victim’s handphone away again, but the victim resisted his action. At this point, a member of the public told the accused to stop,” according to court documents.

As the victim returned to his taxi, Rahiman threatened him, saying: “Don’t let me see you in the market.” He rode off after that, the court heard.

The court also heard that Rahiman made voluntary restitution of S$350 to the victim for a new handphone contract.

"SAVAGE" ACTIONS

The prosecution sought a jail term of between two and three months and a S$1,000 fine for the offences. The attack in Sentosa was a “protracted” one, during which Rahiman was “relentless” and targeted “vulnerable” body parts, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kwang Jia Min.

She added that the victim was vulnerable.

Lawyer Audrey Koo, who represented Rahiman, sought a jail term of six weeks and said in mitigation that her client is not a violent man, and that he had fully cooperated with authorities.

In sentencing him, District Judge Tan Jen Tse described the offence as a “vicious assault”.

He noted that the incident happened in a public place, and that it was prolonged. He described Rahiman’s actions as “savage” and said the victim was vulnerable.

The judge also ordered Rahiman to compensate the victim for her medical bills, which came up to S$184.70.

Another two charges for failing to wear a mask during the assault, and using threatening words against the taxi driver were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Rahiman could have been jailed up to three years and fined up to S$5,000. For using criminal force, he could have been jailed up to three months and fined up to S$1,500.