Singapore — A Chinese national was sentenced to 5½ years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one charge each of attempted culpable homicide, criminal intimidation and trespassing into his girlfriend’s room after finding out that she had lied about her age.
The man, 31-year-old Chen Jianhua, met club hostess Ye Yuhuan on the WeChat social media platform. Although they were not physically intimate, the pair allegedly became a couple and Chen bought Ye gifts besides helping her out financially between February and June 2019.
Chen, a cook, soon grew suspicious that Ye was working as more than a hostess at a club as she had claimed. He entered her hostel room by forcing her door open after she had gone to work on the evening of July 7 in 2019.
Looking through her things, Chen found a China train ticket and a Singapore disembarkation card through which he discovered that she was seven years older than him.
Incensed, Chen stole her iPhone 6 Plus and two red packets containing $800. He confronted her over the lies and cheating on WeChat and demanded that she pay back the money he had lavished on her. He also threatened to kill her if she did not pay him back.
Ye discovered that her possessions were missing two days later. She informed Chen that she would be lodging a police complaint against him.
Fearful that he may be deported to China, Chen bought a knife and planned to stab Ye if she refused to withdraw her police report.
Ye finally contacted the police on July 11 after Chen complained about her to her own relatives in China and told her that he would be coming to her workplace. Chen’s rage escalated when he received a call from an investigation officer.
Despite his own mother’s advice to refrain from doing anything stupid when he called her to complain about being cheated, Chen took the knife and went to Ye’s workplace at Race Course Road.
Meeting Ye outside the Muthu’s Curry restaurant, Chen demanded that she withdraw the police report and return his money. When Ye refused to do so and tried to walk away, Chen pulled her towards him and stabbed her with his knife.
He then hugged her and stabbed her again in the neck and back, while biting off part of her earlobe which he spat out nearby. The force with which Chen stabbed the victim caused the blade of the ceramic knife to shatter into two pieces.
Chen then threw the knife into nearby bushes and called the police when he saw Ye bleeding. Bystanders who witnessed the attack also called the police.
Justice See Kee Oon said during sentencing: “The attack on the victim was vicious, causing serious injury and permanent scarring.” He, however, noted that Chen “came to his senses” after the attack and not only helped stop her bleeding but surrendered to the police at the scene.
The court heard that Chen’s mental state was impaired during the incident as a psychiatric assessment found that he was suffering from adjustment disorder.
As for Ye, she was in the hospital for a week and given two weeks’ hospitalisation leave after she was discharged. The torn part of her ear lobe was found and surgically reattached. The prosecutor reported that the victim’s wounds would leave visible scars although they are not expected to result in permanent disability. /TISG