SINGAPORE: A man confronted his father-in-law after he saw red over a letter that he accused the older man of sending to his neighbour.
Dissatisfied with the 58-year-old man’s explanation, he assaulted the victim who was more than twice his age so viciously that it left him with permanent injuries.
On Wednesday (June 18), Muhammad Fida’iy Mohamad Fauzi, 26, was sentenced to 18 months’ jail and six strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to one count of causing grievous hurt.
He was also ordered to pay his father-in-law S$8,241.19 to compensate for his medical fees.
The court heard that Fida’iy had arranged to meet his father-in-law at Loyang Point mall on June 21, 2024, at 9pm.
Fida’iy had wanted to speak to the older man about a letter that his neighbour had received, which reportedly contained personal information about him.
Details of the letter are not revealed in court documents.
Suspecting his father-in-law was behind the letter, Fida’iy confronted him at the McDonald’s outlet in Loyang Point.
When the older man denied sending it, Fida’iy became more aggressive during the confrontation, and the victim decided to leave.
Fida’iy followed his father-in-law to Pasir Ris Street 21, where he kicked the victim while he was on his phone. When he fell to the ground, Fida’iy punched him repeatedly in the face.
After the assault, Fida’iy returned to Loyang Point to wash off the blood on his hands before returning home.
As a result of the assault, the victim suffered fractures in his face, significant deformity of his nose and a deep laceration on his upper lip.
In mitigation, Fida’iy’s lawyer, Danny Erwin Nah Wei Jin, said his client had resorted to violence only at his breaking point.
Nah told the court the two men’s relationship was unlike that of a typical father-in-law and son-in-law, as Fida’iy had claimed to have been abused by the older man.
The lawyer, however, did not provide details on the type of abuse and the duration it had been inflicted on Fida’iy.
In response, the prosecution said Fida’iy’s attack could not be justified even if the two men had a strained relationship.
Noting that a doctor had described the victim’s injuries as life-changing, DPP Lim said the father-in-law continues to suffer from blurred vision, loss of his sense of smell in one nostril, and he will have to live with a titanium implant in his face for the rest of his life. - The Straits Times/ANN
