Foreign worker jailed 10 months for biting off part of man’s index finger during scuffle
An intoxicated excavator operator got into a scuffle with another foreign worker and bit off the front portion of the latter’s left index finger.
The assailant, Thangarasu Rengasamy, 40, pleaded guilty on Friday to voluntarily causing grievous hurt to the electrical engineering technician and was jailed for 10 months.
The severed part of Mr Nagooran Balasubramanian’s finger could not be found.
At the time of the offence, the two Indian nationals were living at separate foreign worker dormitories in Kaki Bukit.
Shortly before the attack, Mr Nagooran, 50, and construction worker Ramamoorthy Anantharaj, 33, were drinking alcohol in Kaki Bukit Avenue 3 at around 10pm on April 22.
There were many other foreign workers in the vicinity and they were also socialising over drinks.
An intoxicated Thangarasu, who was seated about 5m away from the pair, started shouting and Mr Ramamoorthy told him to keep his volume down.
Thangarasu then marched towards Mr Ramamoorthy with his right hand raised and the younger man responded by slapping him.
A scuffle broke out between the pair and Mr Nagooran tried to separate them.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Cai Chenghan said: “In the midst of the struggle, (Mr Nagooran’s) left index finger inadvertently entered the accused’s mouth. The accused... bit down onto the victim’s finger forcefully and did not let go.
“The accused and the victim then fell to the ground, with the accused still biting down on the victim’s finger.”
Mr Ramamoorthy tried to pull Thangarasu away, but he did not loosen his bite.
Mr Nagooran finally managed to free himself a few seconds later and saw that his finger was bleeding.
He washed his finger with water and saw a portion of it had been bitten off. He alerted the police and was rushed to Changi General Hospital.
Mr Nagooran was diagnosed with a partial amputation of the finger and was told that he needed surgery.
However, the victim discharged himself from the hospital against medical advice on April 23 due to concerns over the medical costs. The costs were not disclosed in court.
Mr Nagooran was given 14 days of hospitalisation leave.
DPP Cai had asked for Thangarasu to be jailed for between 10 months and a year.
“The victim will... likely be permanently inconvenienced, given the nature of his profession as an electrical engineering technician,” said the DPP.
For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now