Former stroke patient fined for scuffling with woman who did not hold lift doors open for him

• Seo Chye Sin asked a woman to hold the lift doors open for him but she did not
• They argued in the lift before fighting at the 15th floor lobby
• The woman suffered a large bruise on her forehead as a result

SINGAPORE — Upset that a woman in a lift did not hold the doors open for him, Seo Chye Sin argued with her before fighting with her at the lift lobby. 

On Tuesday (Oct 27), the 51-year-old unemployed man was fined S$3,750 after pleading guilty to two charges of voluntarily causing hurt and using criminal force on the 46-year-old victim. 

Another charge of molestation — for grabbing her breast during the scuffle — was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The victim, a Singapore permanent resident from Thailand, cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.

The incident happened on Jan 27 last year, at a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block along Chua Chu Kang Avenue 2.

At about 7pm that day, the victim entered the lift. 

Teo, who suffered a stroke three years before, was walking towards the lift with his walking stick when he told the woman to wait for him. 

However, she ignored him and pressed the button for the fourth floor. 

The doors began to close and Seo then used his walking stick to prevent the doors from closing.

In the lift he pressed the button for the 15th floor before asking her why she did not wait for him. A verbal dispute ensued.

When the lift did not stop at the fourth floor, she tried to press the button again. 

Seo uttered, “Press harder, lah” and they exchanged glares.

When they reached the 15th floor, Seo got out and asked her: “What do you want?”

He walked towards the victim and she held up her hands to prevent him from touching her.

The two had a scuffle at the lift lobby and Seo’s walking stick and the victim’s mobile phone dropped during the tussle. 

Seo then intentionally pushed her on her upper chest.

She pushed him away and bent down to pick up her mobile phone but he then punched her head a few times.

When she shouted for help, Seo’s wife and son rushed over to separate them. 

The victim suffered a large bruise on her forehead as a result of the incident. 

In mitigation, Seo’s lawyer Terence Seah said that Seo thought the victim was filming or getting ready to film him with her mobile phone so he pushed the device away. 

Seo also “felt afraid” and wanted to defend himself when she reached down, thinking she wanted to use his walking stick on him. 

He thus punched her in a “knee-jerk self-preservation reaction”, the lawyer told the court.

The fight was also not deliberate and had started due to a misunderstanding, Mr Seah said in seeking a fine of S$1,800.

For causing hurt, Seo could have been jailed up to two years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

For using criminal force, he could have been jailed up to three months or fined up to S$1,500, or both.