Angry with slow Wi-fi, Singapore tenant tries to strangle landlady
Maroosha Muzaffar
Thu, 22 June 2023 at 7:48 pm SGT·2-min read
File. Singapore cityscape (Reuters)
A 30-year-old man tried to strangle his landlady in Singapore after he flew into a rage over the slow Wi-fi speed in his apartment, according to reports.
Local media reported that Li Xin pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the charges of criminal intimidation with the intent to cause death and of causing hurt by choking his landlord’s neck.
He was sentenced to five months in prison by a judge in Singapore.
Li got angry over the slow Wi-fi speed while playing a mobile game in May.
Police said he had downed six cans of beer before confronting his landlady, Lin Suhua, who was in her room with the door closed.
As they argued, he reportedly pulled out a knife and threatened to kill the 61-year-old woman and her entire family.
The Chinese national then proceeded to strangle her.
According to Today Online, deputy public prosecutor Ashley Poh told the court that on 16 May, Li had been drinking and playing a game on his mobile phone while his landlady Ms Lin was in her room with the door closed.
He told the landlady to come out of the room and talk to him about the Wi-fi speed. The argument escalated and Li took out a knife and pulled Ms Lin into his room where he slammed her onto the bed.
Ms Lin was able to somehow calm the man down at this point.
Another tenant, Ji Zhaoliang, reportedly called Li and the landlady shouted to ask why Mr Ji did not return to the apartment after work and told him to get back quickly.
After the call, Li responded to Ms Lin’s query about Mr Ji’s delay and said: “Because I told him I will be killing all your family and all of you.”
When Mr Ji finally came home, the landlady told him of the threat and said Li had pulled a knife on her.
The court was told on Wednesday that this made Li aggressive again and led him to push Ms Lin onto the bed and try to strangulate her until Mr Ji intervened.
Li reportedly kept banging on the landlady’s room door after the confrontation ended and demanded that she come out.
Li, who has lived and worked in the city for almost 10 years, could have been jailed for up to three years or fined $3,730 or both but had asked to be shown leniency as he said he had experienced anxiety when he was in remand.
He had not been represented by a lawyer and claimed he was not aware of Singapore’s stringent laws.
