SINGAPORE, Aug 26 — When Andre Chen Si’En heard from his wife that she had allegedly been raped by his friend, he became incensed and hatched a plan with a third individual, Gervan Wong Jun Heng, to seek revenge.
Under the pretext of inviting the alleged rapist out for drinks, the two men drove him to Choa Chu Kang Cemetery instead where he was viciously beaten — resulting in a chunk of flesh being torn off his head — and made to crawl back to the car.
The court heard yesterday that the rape allegations were unproven.
Chen, 32, was sentenced to eight years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane.
He pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon at the cemetery, on top of several separate charges of voluntarily causing hurt to another individual in a lift at Ming Arcade along Cuscaden Road, drug consumption, and flouting Covid-19 regulations.
As for Wong, 27, he pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon, as well as charges related to traffic offences, drug consumption, and flouting Covid-19 regulations.
Wong was sentenced to seven years and about seven months’ imprisonment, along with six strokes of the cane.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of S$2,400, and will be disqualified from holding all classes of driving licences for two years.
Plotting revenge
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Huo Jiongrui told the court that the attack at the cemetery happened in the early hours of May 10, 2020.
The day before, Chen had received a phone text message from his wife that his friend, Douglas Wong Wei Hao, then aged 29, had allegedly raped Chen’s wife on the night of May 8.
Although Gervan Wong did not know Douglas Wong, he agreed to accompany Chen to “settle the issue”, and rented a Mercedes car for this purpose.
Gervan Wong also provided weapons such as a knuckleduster, a flick knife and a metal baton.
While on the way to meet Douglas Wong — who had agreed to meet Chen under the illusion that they would be having drinks — both Chen and Gervan Wong agreed that they would take the victim to a secluded place.
If Douglas Wong admitted to raping Chen’s wife, the men would attack him, DPP Huo said.
The men eventually reached Choa Chu Kang Cemetery at around 3am, where Chen began questioning Douglas Wong about his wife’s allegations.
Incensed with what he thought were half-hearted replies from the man, Chen began to use the knuckleduster to hit the back of Douglas Wong’s head, tearing a chunk of flesh from it.
Though the victim tried to escape, he was unable to outrun Chen, who again attacked him with the knuckleduster before stabbing him in the legs with the knife.
Gervan Wong then joined in the attack with the baton, and the two assailants took turns hurting the victim.
DPP Huo said that Chen had also, at some point, smashed the victim’s mobile phone against a tombstone.
The assault stopped only when the attackers became exhausted. When the victim begged them for water, Gervan Wong retrieved a bottle from the rented car and sprayed its contents onto the victim’s face.
The men then ordered the victim to crawl back to the car before they dropped him off at the foot of the housing block where he lived at around 5.30am.
The victim made it to the doorstep of his home, but not before leaving a bloody trail behind him.
He was found by his mother, who called for the ambulance.
Traumatised
Medical reports stated that as a result of the attack, he sustained multiple stab wounds on his lower limbs, fractures on his forearm and foot, bruises, cuts on his head, and subdural haematoma — which is the buildup of blood on the surface of the brain.
He also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and sought treatment from the Institute of Mental Health, and has made an out-of-pocket payment of more than S$2,050 for his medical treatment as of June 20 this year, DPP Huo said.
Both Chen and Gervan Wong were arrested by the police later that afternoon at around 3.30pm at Gervan Wong’s home, where the police seized the baton and the knuckleduster. Gervan Wong later admitted that he had thrown the knife away.
No room for vigilante justice
DPP Huo, who sought between eight years’ jail and a jail term of eight years and six months, on top of 10 strokes of the cane for Chen, said that the man has a history of violent antecedents, for which he has been caned before.
DPP Huo noted that the attack on Douglas Wong was needlessly prolonged and even though he never retaliated throughout the assault, the two assailants continued to viciously attack him even after he had fallen to the ground.
The pair treated the victim “to unrestrained cruelty” and the three weapons used in the attack were “inherently dangerous”, the prosecutor added.
In mitigation, Chen’s lawyer, Kalidass Murugaiyan, told the court that his client had carried out the attack because he was triggered by the allegations of the rape.
“This person is someone known to Andre for many years,” the lawyer said, before seeking a jail term of three-and-a-half to four years.
He also described the attack as short but intense, and that if Chen had wanted, he could have done much worse to the victim since they were in a secluded place.
Kalidass added that Chen felt remorseful and helped the victim to wash his wounds.
In reply, DPP Huo said that to characterise the act of spraying water on the victim’s face as an attempt to help him wash his wounds would be a stretch, when it was clearly meant to humiliate the individual.
As for the allegations of being raped, DPP Huo said that Chen’s wife had not demanded for the victim to be hurt.
In delivering his sentence, District Judge Eddy Tham said that the allegations of rape were serious but they were unproven.
Moreover, Chen and Gervan Wong had lured the victim to a deserted place, armed with dangerous weapons, and this showed their intent to inflict brutal injuries on the victim.
“There is no room for vigilante justice here,” District Judge Tham said, adding that the men’s act of making the victim crawl back to the car “speaks full volume of the lack of kindness on their part”.
He added: “What is disturbing in this case is that the accused has not learned from previous punishments meted out by the court, which included caning.” Turning to Gervan Wong, who was represented by CK Teo, the judge said that his most serious offence, among his string of charges, was supplying the dangerous weapons used at the cemetery, and fully participating in the attack.
Anyone found guilty of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon can be sentenced to life imprisonment or jailed for up to 15 years. He is also liable to a fine or caning. — TODAY
