Man jailed for kicking sister in the face 17 years ago

Singapore - Seventeen years after kicking his younger sister in the face and leaving her with injuries she still suffers from, Supriyadi Rafiin finally got his punishment on Wednesday - three months in jail.

The 39-year-old safety coordinator pleaded guilty to hurting Ms Suriyani Rafiin, 35, in her bedroom of their Clementi flat in 1996.

She was then 18 and he was 22. They had argued about her relationship with a boy.

The kick to her face left her unconscious, and she woke up with blood in her mouth.

Family members took her to a general practitioner two days later, and she was referred to the Singapore General Hospital. Five days later, she had surgery for a fractured jaw.

The court was not told why she did not go to the police then.

But there is no statute of limitation in Singapore for criminal offences. This means that victims can still make a report years after the offence.

Ms Suriyani did so in February this year, leading to her brother's arrest.

Now living in Japan and known as Ms Yennie Kanno, she wrote a letter to the Clementi Police Division reporting the assault.

She also said that she is still suffering from a disorder of the jaw joint and numbness of the lower lip and chin.

When she returned for an evaluation at the National Dental Centre in March, she was told that her injuries were deemed likely to be permanent.

Her brother could have been jailed for up to a year, or fined up to $1,000, or both.

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