SINGAPORE: A woman was fined S$4,000 (US$3,100) by a district court on Tuesday (Aug 5) for kicking another woman on a train in a dispute over seats.
Endon Abu Bakar, a 47-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to a 66-year-old Singaporean woman.
The court heard that the victim boarded the East West Line at Clementi MRT Station at about 10.30am on Dec 5, 2024.
She sat two seats away from the priority seat and placed her bag on the seat beside her, as it was not occupied at the time.
At about 11am, Endon boarded the same train at Paya Lebar MRT Station.
As she sat down, the victim felt that Endon had sat down forcefully, hitting her bag in the process.
Endon, in turn, had seen that the seat was empty and felt that it ought not to be occupied by a plastic bag.
The victim told Endon that she should have asked her to move it.
A dispute then ensued.
Endon pointed her mobile phone at the victim.
In return, the victim smiled, made a peace sign and took out her own phone which she pointed at Endon, the prosecutor said.
This angered Endon, who snatched the victim's phone. The victim stood up and tried to grab it back.
In response, Endon used her right leg and kicked the victim once in the abdomen, intending to hurt her.
The altercation came to an end when another commuter pressed the emergency button and the train stopped at Tanah Merah Station.
The train staff interviewed the two women.
After this, the victim felt pain in her abdominal area and sought medical attention, complaining of a headache and abdominal pain.
She was found to be alert, comfortable and able to walk steadily, said the prosecutor.
The doctor concluded that the pain on palpitation was consistent with a bruise to the abdomen area, along with minor soft tissue injury consistent with being kicked in the abdomen.
The victim did not require hospitalisation and declined medical leave.
The prosecutor left the sentence to the court, noting only that Endon had been sentenced to probation before.
Endon tendered a written mitigation letter that was not read out in open court.
In response to questions from District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan, she said she was a librarian earning about S$2,500 a month in basic pay.
The judge said this was a "borderline case" where he could impose jail, but would be giving a fine since Endon did not have any relevant past convictions and the harm caused was "not so severe".
"I'm prepared to impose a fine but it will be a high fine because this happened in an MRT train (and) caused disturbance and commotion to others," he said.
They discussed how much she could pay upfront, with Endon asking what the minimum sum was because "I have a lot of instalments". She added that she was paying S$1,200 for "HDB" this month.
"You have all these difficulties in your life, I understand," said Judge Koo. "Then you shouldn't have committed this offence."
He said the harm caused was not severe and the injury was not in a vulnerable part of the body.
"Nevertheless, as this offence was committed in an MRT train and the commotion caused the emergency button to be pressed and the accused clearly appears to be the more aggressive party in this matter, the court has to impose a high fine," said the judge.
He allowed Endon to pay S$500 on Tuesday and to pay the rest in seven instalments of S$500 each.
For voluntarily causing hurt, she could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
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Endon Abu Bakar, a 47-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to a 66-year-old Singaporean woman.
The court heard that the victim boarded the East West Line at Clementi MRT Station at about 10.30am on Dec 5, 2024.
She sat two seats away from the priority seat and placed her bag on the seat beside her, as it was not occupied at the time.
At about 11am, Endon boarded the same train at Paya Lebar MRT Station.
As she sat down, the victim felt that Endon had sat down forcefully, hitting her bag in the process.
Endon, in turn, had seen that the seat was empty and felt that it ought not to be occupied by a plastic bag.
The victim told Endon that she should have asked her to move it.
A dispute then ensued.
Endon pointed her mobile phone at the victim.
In return, the victim smiled, made a peace sign and took out her own phone which she pointed at Endon, the prosecutor said.
This angered Endon, who snatched the victim's phone. The victim stood up and tried to grab it back.
In response, Endon used her right leg and kicked the victim once in the abdomen, intending to hurt her.
The altercation came to an end when another commuter pressed the emergency button and the train stopped at Tanah Merah Station.
The train staff interviewed the two women.
After this, the victim felt pain in her abdominal area and sought medical attention, complaining of a headache and abdominal pain.
She was found to be alert, comfortable and able to walk steadily, said the prosecutor.
The doctor concluded that the pain on palpitation was consistent with a bruise to the abdomen area, along with minor soft tissue injury consistent with being kicked in the abdomen.
The victim did not require hospitalisation and declined medical leave.
The prosecutor left the sentence to the court, noting only that Endon had been sentenced to probation before.
Endon tendered a written mitigation letter that was not read out in open court.
In response to questions from District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan, she said she was a librarian earning about S$2,500 a month in basic pay.
The judge said this was a "borderline case" where he could impose jail, but would be giving a fine since Endon did not have any relevant past convictions and the harm caused was "not so severe".
"I'm prepared to impose a fine but it will be a high fine because this happened in an MRT train (and) caused disturbance and commotion to others," he said.
They discussed how much she could pay upfront, with Endon asking what the minimum sum was because "I have a lot of instalments". She added that she was paying S$1,200 for "HDB" this month.
"You have all these difficulties in your life, I understand," said Judge Koo. "Then you shouldn't have committed this offence."
He said the harm caused was not severe and the injury was not in a vulnerable part of the body.
"Nevertheless, as this offence was committed in an MRT train and the commotion caused the emergency button to be pressed and the accused clearly appears to be the more aggressive party in this matter, the court has to impose a high fine," said the judge.
He allowed Endon to pay S$500 on Tuesday and to pay the rest in seven instalments of S$500 each.
For voluntarily causing hurt, she could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
Continue reading...