An Indian-origin Malaysian man was sentenced to seven months and three weeks' jail for terrorising his girlfriend by beating her, smashing her phone, tearing up her passport and choking her.
Paartiban Maniam's sentence was backdated to March 12 when he was arrested and remanded.
The 30-year-old Malaysian pleaded guilty to two charges each of criminal intimidation, committing mischief and causing hurt to his partner.
District Judge James Elisha Lee took into consideration six other similar charges for sentencing purposes.
Paartiban had gone out for drinks with his friends on January 23 before getting into a dispute with the victim over the phone. When he got home, he accused her of being with another man and verbally abused her.
When her uncle took them down to the void deck of the housing block where he lived in order to settle matters, Paartiban slapped and punched his girlfriend. The older man had to tell him to stop.
Back at the uncle's flat, Paartiban placed a kitchen knife close to his girlfriend's neck, threatening to kill her. He later struck her head with a wooden kitchen towel holder. Upset, she wrestled the holder from him and hit him with it, too.
Her uncle eventually called the police. Paartiban was arrested before being released on police bail.
About a month later, on February 28, Paartiban had moved out of the flat but returned.
When his girlfriend refused to let him in, he dislodged the metal gate at the main door by pulling it away from the wall forcefully. He then entered the flat, snatched her phone away and punched her face.
During their argument, he pointed a fruit knife at her chest and said in Tamil that he would "definitely kill" her.
He later pointed a pair of scissors at her abdomen area, threatening once again to kill her. She managed to calm him down and he put the scissors down before punching her shoulder.
Afraid of what he would do, she complied with his instructions to pack her belongings and leave with him.
All this time, he continued to shout at her, punched her shoulder again, then tore up her Malaysian passport.
Upon getting to the ground floor of the block, she cooked up an excuse, walked away and asked a passer-by to call the police for her.
Paartiban was arrested and released on police bail once more.
The prosecution sought seven to 10 months' jail for Paartiban. For criminal intimidation, he could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.
For voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to SGD5,000, or both. And for committing mischief, he could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.
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