Jail for man who punched sister in drunken rage
A Malaysian man has been charged with more than 600 sex assaults against his daughter, and could face a jail term of over 12,000 years if found guilty, officials said Thursday (Aug 10). Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — An unemployed man who punched his sister and verbally abused his father and police officers while drunk was sentenced to 18 months and two weeks’ jail yesterday by a district judge.
Tan Hiang Hock, 46, committed a series of offences in April and May when he was drunk, the court heard.
On two occasions in April, he shouted Hokkien vulgarities at his 71-year-old father, Mr Tan See Kwan, and punched him once on the neck.
On May 1, Tan returned intoxicated to the Whampoa flat he shared with his father and sister, May Ling. It was past 10pm and he woke his father up and hurled verbal abuse at him.
Tan then went to the kitchen. He quarrelled with his younger sister and punched her, causing her to fall on the floor. He continued raining punches on her while she was on the ground, but she managed to push him away and ran into her room. Ms Tan, 42, was found to have bruises on parts of her face. X-rays showed a possible fracture near her cheekbones.
Ten days later, Tan was found lying at an open area near his home and appeared drunk. When two police officers tried to help him sit up, he started spewing Hokkien profanities at them. Tan was arrested, but his errant ways did not stop.
On May 21, he caused a ruckus at a clinic near his home, banging on the counter and claiming he wanted to burn the place down. Tan did not calm down despite attempts by the clinic staff, and was again arrested.
The court heard yesterday that Tan had previous brushes with the law — his father and sister had taken out Personal Protection Orders against him in 2012.
Arguing for a jail term of at least 18 months, Deputy Public Prosecutor Houston Johannus said that Tan was “undeterred by his past offences” and showed a “lack of remorse” by re-offending. By using insulting language against the police, Tan had also “shown disdain for law and authority”, said the prosecution, which proceeded with 11 of the 30 charges Tan was facing.
In mitigation, Tan’s lawyer Dilip Kumar said his client was “extremely remorseful”. His sister, who was also in court, called her brother “a good person”. She said he had a “drinking problem” but promised he would not commit such offences again.
It cut no ice with District Judge Eddy Tham, who said Tan had been “a source of grief and pain” to his sister and father. “Despite many promises (to change) … you failed to (make good) on your word to stop drinking,” the judge said. Tan did not show any emotion during the hearing, but occasionally turned to glance at his sister.
