'Let the car bang you': Man jailed for pulling 76-year-old woman onto road over money dispute

SINGAPORE: After arguing with an elderly woman over a sum of money, a 57-year-old man pulled her by the arm to the middle of a road and said "let the car bang you to die".

On the road, he strangled the woman with both hands, as motorists changed lanes to avoid them.

The aggressor, Chew Eng Wah, was sentenced to 22 weeks' jail on Thursday (Jan 12) for one count of criminal intimidation. A second charge relating to the strangling was taken into consideration.

The court heard that the victim, 76-year-old Lee Baby, left her home in the early morning of Sep 21, 2022 and was on her way to a coffee shop when she bumped into Chew.

Chew was an acquaintance of hers and was waiting to talk to her about a sum of money.

The pair began arguing and Chew scolded her with vulgarities, gesturing at her as if he was about to hit her.

The victim was afraid and tried to walk away, but Chew pulled her to the middle of North Bridge Road and said to her: "Let the car bang you to die."

While they were on the road, he strangled her, leaving her in pain and with scratches.

As motorists switched lanes to avoid them, the victim struggled to break free but eventually managed to get back to the pavement. Chew followed her for a while, but ran away when the police arrived.

The prosecutor called for six to nine months' jail for Chew. She listed his past convictions - he has more than 10, dating as far back as 1983.

The previous offences include robbery with hurt, managing a brothel, possessing uncensored films, possessing drugs and selling obscene books. 

The prosecutor said the victim was elderly and the threat made to her was a "very real and imminent one" as Chew had dragged her to the middle of the road and strangled her.

There was a real possibility that either of them could get hit by a car, and there was also danger to other road users, said the prosecutor.

In mitigation, lawyer Wee Hong Shern said the victim was "an old friend" of Chew's whom he knew socially for more than 20 years.

"She is close to him and has stayed over at his place a couple of times before," he said.

He said Chew lent money to the victim as she said she would pay him back punctually, but claimed that she did not. This caused Chew to actively seek her out to get the money back, said the lawyer.

According to him, Chew expected the victim to be apologetic, but instead she said he was a harasser and said she would soon commit suicide because of him.

It was after this that Chew made the threat of letting the car "bang" the victim, claimed the lawyer.