Suspects in Boon Lay slashing taken by police to scene of attack
The suspects who are believed to be involved in a violent attack in Boon Lay Drive on Wednesday afternoon (April 6) were taken to the incident site by the police on Friday.
The duo were arrested on Thursday afternoon in Woodlands following a manhunt after attackers armed with machetes allegedly struck two men, aged 22 and 23, who were in the area after attending a wedding procession nearby.
The two men are close friends of the groom, Mr Emmanuel Ravi, 26, whose wedding day was disrupted by the sudden attack near his home.
At around 4.15pm on Friday, the police arrived at the carpark of Block 177 Boon Lay Drive with the two suspects, who were ushered out of the police vehicle individually to inspect the site.
The suspects, whose arms and legs were restrained with straps, walked with five police investigators around various points of the estate.
Both were dressed in a white shirt, blue shorts and slippers, and had tattoos on their legs, arms and neck.
Investigators pointed to what is believed to be bloodstains that are still visible at space No. 72 of the carpark.
The investigators then took them separately past several shops in the estate before they were ushered back into the police vehicle as dozens of curious residents stood behind the police tape and watched.
In an interview on Friday with The Straits Times, the bride, pre-school teacher Yuroshini Josephine, 25, said she and Mr Emmanuel were in the midst of their wedding ritual when her husband received a call telling him that his friends had been assaulted in the carpark.
After her husband rushed down to tend to his injured friends, she said she could not bear to stay put and eventually headed down despite her family's urging her to remain home to honour their traditions.
She said: "Everyone was rushing up and down from the home. By right, I should not go down but I wanted to see what was happening."
By the time she went down, the attackers were gone and the victims were loaded up into the ambulance.
She said: "We have been so affected over the past two days during our honeymoon, this was all we thought about. I am just relieved it didn't result in any deaths."
Mr Emmanuel told ST that he is friends with the two victims, Mr Praveen Raj and Mr Saran Kumar, who often visited his home.
He said he heard that the attackers had an issue with his friends and had gone to his block to settle a score.
Mr Emmanuel added that he knew of one of the alleged attackers but was not close to him.
Mr Emmanuel's mother, Madam Manvizhi, 50, said the two victims were "like sons" to her.
The pair are long-time family friends who helped the family prepare for the wedding and held a bachelor party for her son.
She said Mr Praveen was still in hospital with 12 cuts on his head, neck, arms and leg, while Mr Saran, who has an 8cm gash on the side of his head, was discharged.
Madam Manvizhi said she was not aware of the attack till later as she had fainted during Wednesday's procession as she was exhausted by the wedding preparation.
She was discharged from hospital at around 2pm and remained at home to rest, before the newly-wedded couple visited the home for the ritual after the main wedding.
The family chose not to inform her of the attack until 6pm as she was still drowsy and they did not want to worry her, said the single mother, adding that she is a former stroke patient.
"I feel so bad and so disappointed. They came for the wedding and then this happened to them."
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