Tampines cat killer jailed 18 weeks
Fajar Ashraf Fajar Ali leaves the state courts on Jan 9, 2017. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — A 25-year-old man who threw a cat from the 10th floor of a public housing block in Tampines, then slammed it on the ground to its death was sentenced to 18 weeks’ jail on Monday (March 13).
Fajar Ashraf Fajar Ali had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of animal abuse, where he ill-treated a female shorthair cat by throwing it from the tenth-floor staircase landing of Block 884, Tampines Street 83 and slamming the cat on the ground twice on May 26 last year.
In meting out the sentence, District Judge May Mesenas said a deterrent sentence has to be imposed so that like-minded individuals would not commit similar acts on an innocent animal.
While she noted that Fajar had committed the act out of frustration, it was clearly no excuse for him to behave in such a manner.
She also took into account that he was a first offender and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
The court was earlier told that at about 1am that day, Fajar left his home to look for cats to play with.
After a while, he spotted the female shorthair cat and managed to lure it into the lift. He brought it to the 10th floor staircase landing and played with it. Later, the cat tried to escape but Fajar lured it back with more food. But when the cat approached him, he picked it up and dropped it over the ledge.
After doing so, he went downstairs and saw that the cat was still alive. He picked it up and slammed the cat on the ground twice to ensure that the cat died. He also took out a lighter and lit it to check if the cat had died before leaving the scene.
Fajar was arrested on May 31, five days after the incident, following a police report made by an eyewitness living in Block 885, Tampines Street 83.
She had heard noises coming from the opposite block and saw Fajar slamming the cat to the ground. The cat was motionless by the time she went to the void deck.
Fajar later told investigators that he had committed the offences as he was “frustrated” that the cats did not want to go near him.
For a first-offender, the maximum sentence for each count of cruelly ill-treating an animal is a fine of S$15,000, or an imprisonment term of 18 months, or both.
