Man gets jail, caning 22 years after knife attack

Man gets jail, caning 22 years after knife attack

Twenty-two years ago, an Indonesian national attacked three Malaysians with a knife in a flat and fled to Batam.

There, he turned over a new leaf and became a religious teacher. But his past caught up with him as he was leading a group of pilgrims from Batam to Mecca last June, when he was arrested at HarbourFront Centre.

Yesterday, Khairul, 45, who goes by only one name, was sentenced to four years' jail and seven strokes of the cane after he admitted to causing grievous hurt to Mr Lim Bu Chuan.

Khairul was 24 when he slashed Mr Lim, then 23, in the neck, leaving him paralysed, at a flat in Clementi Avenue 2 at about 2am on Sept 26, 1992.

He also slashed two men living with Mr Lim at the flat - Mr Cho Chee Heng, then 20, and Mr Puah Seng Yap, then 30. These charges were considered during sentencing.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Lydia Goh said that at the time Khairul had been visiting Singapore to attend a refresher course for his company Mayor Batam Indah, which produces electronic cables. The victims were here on social visit passes.

Mr Lim and Mr Cho had befriended Khairul and invited him to their flat to watch television. By the time they got there at about 11.30pm, Mr Puah was already asleep.

Mr Lim went to bed first while Mr Cho and Khairul watched TV and chatted before Mr Cho also turned in. At about 2am, Khairul sneaked into the bedroom and attacked Mr Lim with a fruit knife he found. Awakened by the commotion, Mr Puah saw someone in a sarong squatting beside Mr Lim, but did not recognise Khairul as he had not seen him before. Mr Puah shouted and was knifed several times.

Mr Cho woke up and tried to help Mr Puah, but was also slashed. Mr Puah then ran out of the bedroom to switch on the lights in the living room.

Khairul fled the flat and headed to Batam. His victims were taken to hospital, where Mr Cho and Mr Puah were treated as outpatients. Mr Lim was operated on, then transferred to a hospital in Johor Baru.

Defence lawyer Mohamed Muzammil Mohamed said his client, a father of three, had a "mysterious call" while watching TV. He had suddenly remembered a recent bank robbery in Indonesia where a group of Malaysians shot dead a cop and a security guard.

In a rush of anger, he attacked Mr Lim with the fruit knife before Mr Cho and Mr Puah attacked him with a hammer and a broomstick, injuring him.

District Judge Marvin Bay said Khairul must recognise that what he did to his victims could not be reversed. "They had extended hospitality to you, unwittingly inviting you to the sanctuary of their home, where they were viciously attacked," he said.

Khairul could have been jailed for up to 10 years, fined or caned for causing grievous hurt.

 

This article was published on April 9 in The Straits Times.

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