Singapore:
An Indian-born man was sentenced on Thursday to 11 years and nine months in prison with nine strokes of the cane for assaulting a Certis enforcement officer with a sickle, seriously injuring his leg two years ago.
Vickneswaran Sivan, 32, was angry with the officer for making a call for smoking a cigarette on the empty deck of a Canberra Link apartment building in Sembawang, according to The Straits Times.
Victim Mohamad Afiq Mohamad Jamil, 29, was given 141 days of hospital leave following the November 9, 2020 attack. He is expected to make a full recovery but will have permanent scars.
Before handing down the verdict, District Judge Marvin Bay noted that Vickneswaran had shown disregard for authority.
The judge added: “It would be moral hazard for officers to be prevented from performing their duties fearlessly and conscientiously, arising out of concern that they might incur physical harm … from the persons upon whose conduct and compliance they supervised.” Vickneswaran had pleaded guilty in October to seven charges, including voluntarily inflicting serious injuries and inflicting pain on an official.
He was with two friends on the empty deck of the Canberra Link shortly before the attack. One of them, a 41-year-old man, had a lit cigarette in his hand.
Vickneswaran found a sickle with a curved blade 6 inches (16 cm) long, challenged the Certis officers to a fight and punched the deputy police officer in the face.
He slashed Afiq’s hands and legs at least four times and ran after the deputy, who managed to escape.
The locals alerted the police and Vickneswaran, who had taken a taxi home, was arrested the next day.
In previous proceedings, Deputy Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei told the court that Afiq’s injuries had impaired his ability to participate in recreational activities and perform his job. She added that he had to be redeployed as a result.
Vickneswaran was charged in court and released on bail.
In June 2021, he allegedly beat up his pregnant wife, causing multiple fractures, and stole SGD 1,930 from her bank account.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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