Jail, cane for twin brothers for assault
Two brothers who are twins were each jailed for five months and ordered to receive three strokes of the cane on Tuesday (June 6) for assaulting their fellow Indian national.
Construction workers Lakshmanan Pothiyappan and Raman Pothiyappan, both 24, each pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous hurt to Mr Thevvan Velayutham, 41, at a Shaw Road dormitory, near Upper Paya Lebar Road on Oct 29, last year.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Soh Weiqi said Mr Thevvan, who is also construction worker, was sitting at the front porch of the dormitory at around 10.20am that day when the two brothers started punching and kicking him.
Lakshmanan, who had consumed alcohol shortly before the attack, also threw a chair at Mr Thevvan and it struck the victim's head and body.
DPP Soh said: "Raman had informed that the victim and Lakshmanan were not on good terms, and that he had joined in the assault to support his brother."
Court papers did not reveal what sparked the attack.
The other workers who witnessed the incident managed to break up the scuffle.
But about 45 minutes later, Lakshmanan suddenly rushed towards Mr Thevvan and kicked him again.
His brother followed suit and also rained blows on their victim.
The other workers intervened for the second time and police arrived at the scene at around 11.15am.
Mr Thevvan later went to Changi General Hospital where he was found to be suffering from injuries including a broken nose and a facial fracture near an eye.
DPP Soh told District Judge Samuel Chua that Mr Thevvan has since fully recovered from his injuries.
Stressing that the victim had to fend himself against two men, she urged the judge to sentence the brothers, who were unrepresented, to at least five months' jail with caning.
Before handing out the sentence, Judge Chua told the brothers: "The injuries were severe...Such offences will not be tolerated in Singapore."
For causing grievous hurt, each attacker could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined or caned.
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