Man tied GF up, made her strip naked and took video, used hammer and saw on her
Nadine Chua
The Straits Times
June 6, 2025
A man hit his girlfriend with a mop handle, made her strip naked and tied up her hands and feet as he was angry that she wanted to see her godfather.
He then used a saw to slash her thigh, and hit her head with a wooden hammer as she lay on the bed.
The 30-year-old also took a video of her while she was naked, and removed the bra tied around her wrists only after her hands had turned purple.
On June 6, the man was sentenced to seven years, 11 months and 191 days' jail and nine strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to 10 charges.
The charges included voluntarily causing hurt using a dangerous weapon, wrongful confinement and drug offences.
He was also given an enhanced sentence of 472 days for committing the offences while under a remission order. He had previously been convicted of drug offences.
He cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim, whom he is no longer in a relationship with.
The abuse happened in January 2023 in the man's Tampines home, where his girlfriend also lived.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Tan said the woman wanted to leave home to meet her godfather. But the man dragged her into the bedroom, asking her if she was having an affair with her godfather.
He then hit her with a mop handle until she fell to the ground before making her strip naked and using her bra to tie her wrists together. He used her shorts to tie up her feet.
He then took a saw and pressed it against her thigh and hurt her with it.
Seeing her hands had turned purple, he released her and took a video of her as she lay naked on the bed.
He continued tormenting her by using a wooden hammer to hit her on her head and thighs.
After the assault, DPP Tan said the couple talked, and she forgave him.
In another incident in September 2022, they were at home when she received a call from an unknown number.
Thinking it was a male intern at her workplace who had called her, the man tied her hands to the bed with a cable tie before pouring gas lighter fluid onto her body.
He then held an open flame close to her chest, burning her.
He forced her to admit it was the male intern who had called her, even though it was not. She did so to appease him, and he released her and cooked for her.
In a separate incident in June 2022, while the man was in jail, he was unhappy with a 62-year-old fellow inmate who had asked him for bread.
The man asked the older inmate to leave, but the latter repeatedly asked him for food.
Thinking he was being challenged, the man punched the older man multiple times, kneed him in the chest and kicked him as he fell to the ground.
The older inmate was rushed unconscious to the hospital, where he had to be resuscitated.
In his submissions, DPP Tan said it was aggravating that the culprit had committed multiple offences against his girlfriend as it was in the context of a domestic relationship.
The DPP said: "The victim said she had forgiven the accused, but that does not make what he did any less egregious."
In mitigation, defence lawyer A. Revi Shanker said his client was diagnosed with major depressive disorder during the period of offending.
The lawyer said: "He was possessive of his girlfriend and was a bit jealous. The disorder contributed to his anger and the way he reacted, but what he did was not premeditated. He acknowledges the seriousness of his actions."
Those convicted of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon can be jailed for up to seven years, fined and caned.
If found guilty of wrongful confinement, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
