Singapore jails cleaner who stabbed colleague in neck over photo of dustbin
- Malaysian national Thevendran Rao Rejendran had initially tried to stab the victim in the mouth with a pair of scissors, the court heard
- He pleaded for leniency, saying he is still ‘very young’ – and accusing the victim of using vulgarities against his mother which made him angry
Thevendran Rao Rejendran, 19, then gave chase as 22-year-old Ruban Raj Tamil Arasan – also a cleaner at Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) – fled while bleeding heavily.
The fight ended only after their supervisor intervened and called for security.
For his actions, Malaysian national Thevendran was sentenced to three months’ jail on Wednesday after pleading guilty to voluntarily causing hurt.
The court heard that at the time of the incident, Thevendran and the victim worked as cleaners at the SIM Clementi campus at 461 Clementi Road.
In the afternoon of June 30, Ruban noticed that a dustbin that Thevendran was responsible for was full, so he decided to take a photograph of it and sent it to their work chatgroup.
This led to a verbal dispute between Thevendran and Ruban, during which both traded vulgarities before Ruban walked away.
Thevendran then took a pair of scissors from his work trolley and ran towards Ruban, intending to stab him in the mouth, Deputy Public Prosector Pavithra Ramkumar said.
However, Thevendran stabbed the victim once on the left side of the neck, near his left ear, before punching Ruban once on his right temple.
Ruban ran away while bleeding heavily, but that did not deter Thevendran, who gave chase from the first floor to the second floor, and then to the car park. It was at the car park that Ruban sought help from their supervisor.
Court documents stated that the supervisor broke up the fight and called for security. Thevendran was subsequently arrested at the campus on the same day.
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Ruban was taken to the National University Hospital where he was found to have a 3cm-deep cut on his lower jaw and bruising on the right side of his head.
He was discharged a few days later on July 3 and was noted to feel mild weakness of his left facial nerve.
The prosecution sought a sentence of three to four months’ jail, noting Thevendran’s sustained violence in continuing to attack and chase the victim after he had walked away.
During mitigation, Thevendran, who was unrepresented, pleaded with the court for leniency and a lower sentence, and that he is still “very young” and wishes to “reform and have a better future”.
Thevendran added that Ruban had used vulgarities against his mother which made him angry.
Court documents did not disclose if the duo are still working as cleaners at SIM.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Thevendran could have been jailed up to three years or fined up to S$5,000 (US$3,650), or both.
