Circular Road scuffle: Victims were also aggressors

SINGAPORE- Models Kuek Ziyi, 23, Anna Huang, 21, and Esther Lee, 19, who had claimed they were hit by a man repeatedly have been shown up in a video taken by a passer-by.

They said they did not provoke their "attacker" other than honk at him.

It happened on Dec 12 after a ladies' night out at Circular Road.

But a video uploaded on citizen journalism site Stomp and widely circulated on social media shows the models acting aggressively and lashing out at the man.

The women are seen kicking and punching him in the video.

Miss Huang claimed she was pushed onto the road during the "attack". She said she then hit her head on the kerb and vomited blood later.

But the video shows two women grabbing on to their alleged attacker and falling awkwardly after losing their grip.

The New Paper tracked down the man in the video - Mr Yogaraj Silvaraju.

He said: "It was unfair of them to label me the attacker because I was a guy who happened to be alone.

"While I was partly at fault, they haven't accepted any responsibility for themselves."

After the incident, the women insisted on pressing charges and wanted compensation. But now they have changed their tune.

"We want to forget this happened and get on with our lives," said Miss Kuek.

Miss Huang added: "I decided that it is just not worth it and we do not want to spend so much time harping on this incident."

Netizens have been lashing out at the models after the video was posted.

Miss Kuek said: "Some of the netizens have said we are too ugly to be models and it is disappointing that people have resorted to personal attacks when they do not know the complete truth."

Mr Yogaraj, a surveyor, said the police have interviewed him over the incident.

The 28-year-old said the fight happened as he was flagging a taxi to head home. He claimed the car that one of the models was driving had bumped him and that angered him.

"I started kicking the car and was shouting at the driver," he said.

"I thought the driver was drunk so I was shouting that she was drunk and wanted her to get out."

INTOXICATED

Mr Yogaraj admitted that he, too, was intoxicated.

"I never threw a punch at them like they claimed," he added.

"When she and her friends got out of the car, we got into a shouting match and they turned very aggressive.

"The driver of the car punched me in the face once. Even then, I was trying to restrain myself.

"A group of people hanging around outside the club told me to leave and I did just that. But as I was leaving, two of the girls tried to slap me. I just wanted to move away.

"While I was trying to get away, I may have hit them lightly in defence but their claims are definitely exaggerated. I never punched them."

Mr Yogaraj said he had never been involved in a physical fight before and he did not give the incident much thought after he went home.

"I could have lodged a complaint but I didn't want to cause any more trouble. I thought I could just forget it," he said.

The day after the fight, the police called him to make a statement at the Police Cantonment Complex.

Mr Yogaraj said: "It was unfortunate that this was blown out of proportion. I had already forgotten it."

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