75-year-old man gets slapped by son for using the toilet at home

SINGAPORE - He attacked his 75-year-old father because the older man used the toilet in their home.

Mohammed Ariffin Tajuddin, 42, was sentenced to three weeks' jail for the offence, which occurred on Nov 10.

The Singaporean pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Dec 28) to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to a vulnerable person.

The father, Mr Tajuddin Ibrahim, had taken out a protection order against Ariffin in January this year.

A charge over contravening this order was taken into consideration during his sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenny Yang told the court that Ariffin was with his father in the master bedroom when he became upset that the father has used the toilet.

DPP Yang added: "The accused then used his right hand to slap the victim's face multiple times, and also used a towel which was on the bed to hit the victim's face."

The attack caused Mr Tajuddin to feel pain on his nose and eyes.

Five days later, Ariffin's sister noticed bruises on her father's face when she was visiting him.

She confronted Ariffin, who admitted to the assault. His sister made a police report on the same day.

Ariffin, who was unrepresented, appeared in court via video-link and did not say anything in mitigation.

His sentence will be backdated to Nov 17.

In meting out the sentence, District Judge Kessler Soh told Ariffin to ensure that he would not hit his father again.

Ariffin is scheduled to visit the Institute of Mental Health upon his release.

For each count of voluntarily causing hurt, offenders can be jailed for three years, fined $5,000, or both. The maximum sentence can be doubled for crimes against vulnerable victims.