Jealous man gets 5 weeks’ jail for assaulting girlfriend, her daughter, neighbour
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — Shortly after he patched up with his girlfriend from past rows over the “multiple affairs” she allegedly had with unidentified men, Mohan Sathiah met her one night last December where they planned to have sex after some beer.
But things took a turn when Mohan, 39, entered his girlfriend’s flat at Chin Swee Road and saw a men’s T-shirt hanging from the wall.
This aroused his suspicions that she was having an affair and resulted in a heated quarrel between the duo, during which Mohan assaulted her, her two children, and their two neighbours.
On Thursday (March 10), he was sentenced to five weeks’ jail for one count of using criminal force and two counts of voluntarily causing hurt. Two similar charges were taken into consideration in sentencing him.
The victim is not named to protect the identity of her daughter.
The court heard that Mohan started hurling vulgarities at the victim, which attracted the attention of her neighbour. At about 10pm that night, the neighbour, 68-year-old Tan Jiak Kern, knocked on the victim’s door to check on her.
Displeased with Mr Tan’s intervention, Mohan pushed him on his chest, causing Mr Tan to fall and return to his unit.
Mohan and the victim continued to quarrel, with him alleging that she was having affairs with men. Their argument extended beyond midnight.
At about 12.40am, Mohan started punching and kicking the victim on her face and body, claiming he did so to “avenge his vengeance”.
Her cries awakened her nine-year-old daughter who was sleeping in the room, who then intervened to stop Mohan from further assaulting her.
Irritated at the intervention, Mohan then kicked the daughter multiple times at her stomach and left knee, causing her to fall to the ground.
The commotion caught the attention of neighbours, who then called for the police.
On Thursday, the court heard that Mohan had a list of antecedents related to disorderly behaviour. Pleading for leniency in tears, he told the court that he had “failed to control his emotions” that night.
District Judge Samuel Chua allowed his five-week term to be backdated to Dec 9 last year, when he was first remanded. The judge also advised him to consider attending a counselling programme to help with his anger management issues.
Mohan could have been jailed two years and/or fined S$5,000 for each count of voluntarily causing hurt. For using criminal force on another, he could have been three months and/or fined S$1,500.
