Man admits throwing Molotov cocktail at ex-wife's house for revenge during circuit breaker

SINGAPORE: Feeling angry at his ex-wife and not wanting her to be at peace, a restaurant manager created a Molotov cocktail and left his home during the COVID-19 "circuit breaker" to toss the weapon onto the victim's front porch.

Ismail Didih Ibrahim, 36, admitted in court on Monday (Apr 26) to two charges of mischief by fire to cause damage to property, and leaving his house during the "circuit breaker" without reasonable excuse.

The court heard that Ismail had married the victim, a 32-year-old woman, in 2017. They divorced in February 2019.

On May 12, 2020, Ismail felt angry at the victim and wanted to take revenge on her. He claimed that she had posted a podcast talking about her relationship trauma.

He took an empty bottle from his storeroom, a bottle half-filled with paint thinner, rags and a spray-can of black paint intending for his ex-wife not to "be in peace", court documents said.

He took a white raincoat from his room as a disguise and drove to his ex-wife's landed property.

After parking his car nearby, he prepared the Molotov cocktail in the boot of his car by pouring paint thinner into the bottle and stuffing rags in the top. He was caught by closed-circuit television cameras glancing around the street to see if anyone was watching.

After about five minutes, he put on the raincoat and walked to the victim's house, spraying "O$P$" on the wall, even though no one from the victim's family had borrowed any money from illegal moneylenders.

The victim and her family were at home as it was the circuit breaker period, where going out without a valid reason was prohibited, and they had just broken their fast.

Ismail lit the Molotov cocktail and threw it onto the front porch. It landed next to some wooden boards and the victim's car, and a blaze started.

Ismail drove away, but the victim's family did not hear the glass shattering or spot the fire. A neighbour instead noticed it and put out the fire before alerting the victim's family, who called the police.

Ismail changed his outfit to avoid detection and the police initially had difficulty locating him because of this, court documents said.

The fire damaged the fender and mirror of the victim's car, costing her S$3,424 in repairs, and the floor tiles, walls and pillars of the front porch had to be fixed for S$5,000 to S$6,000.

As a result of the incident, the victim felt traumatised and unsafe and had to see her counsellor more frequently, incurring additional fees of S$1,000, while her family spent S$580 to install CCTV cameras as they did not feel safe.

The police initially thought the damage was caused by illegal moneylending, but later found that Ismail had caused the damage out of malice.

Ismail has made voluntarily restitution of S$5,000 to the victim and donated S$3,000 to three charities of the victim's choice. He will return to court for mitigation and sentencing in June.

For mischief by fire to cause damage to property, he can be jailed for up to seven years and fined. For leaving his house without reasonable excuse during the circuit breaker, he can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to S$10,000.