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Singapore — As rapper Subhas Nair was charged in court on Monday (Nov 1) with four counts of attempting to promote feelings of ill-will between different groups on grounds of religion and race, his sister took to social media to point out how it was all happening on the week of Deepavali, an occasion the siblings and their family celebrated.

In a Tweet on Monday (Nov 1), YouTuber Preeti Nair also known as Preetipls posted a photo of her and her brother, and added: “Singapore’s TOP bailor on the week of Deepavali”. 

In an earlier Tweet, Preetipls wrote about how their family found out Subhas was being charged. She said: “my brother getting charged in court on the week of Deepavali, my mother finding out the news as she’s about to bake pineapple tarts”. She added that while this was happening, non-Indian netizens took the chance to hurl racial slurs at the family.

On Monday, Subhas took the opportunity to highlight the plight of a man on death row, Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam.

Nagaenthran, a Malaysian national, faces execution on Nov 10.

A petition on the change.org platform is appealing for his pardon, given the circumstances of his case. Nagaenthran was found to have an IQ of 69 and has borderline intellectual functioning. He was arrested for drug trafficking at the age of 21 and has been on death row for more than ten years. Subhas appeared in court with his sister, Preetipls, wearing a shirt with Nagaenthran’s face printed on it. He also posted a screenshot of the change.org petition on Instagram, appealing for more support. /TISG

Subhas Nair draws attention to death row convict as he appears in court to face charges