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Men jailed for abduct, assault
By Jo-ann Huang | Posted: 28 April 2011 2031 hrs
SINGAPORE: A father and an uncle of a 14-year-old girl were each sentenced on Thursday to 20 months' jail for abducting and assaulting the girl's then-17-year-old boyfriend, for one night in a Choa Chu Kang cemetery.
The girl's father and uncle were convicted in April for rioting armed with deadly weapons, voluntarily causing hurt with common intention, and abduction with common intention.
The object of their assault, which took place on May 29, 2009 at about 2.30am, was Lee Poh Kiang, who was 17 years old then.
According to court documents, the father flew into a rage thinking that Mr Lee had led his daughter astray and possibly engaging in sexual activities with her.
But the prosecution told the court earlier that the public cannot be encouraged to physically assault another person for his wrongdoings, and the courts should signal its strong disapproval of such "vigilante" behaviour.
Both father and uncle, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, are appealing their sentence.
The two men, along with two unidentified Indian men, attacked Mr Lee near Block 203 at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, punching and kicking him in the face.
The four men then forced him into a car and drove him to the cemetery where they were joined by another two unidentified Chinese men.
Armed with a samurai sword and baton, the group assaulted Mr Lee for close to two hours.
Mr Lee, who ended up with a very swollen head and the loss of his mobile phone, was eventually picked up by a passing motorist and taken to hospital.
MediaCorp understands that the two unidentified accomplices are still at large.
-CNA/wk
