SINGAPORE, June 13 — A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to six months in jail in Singapore today for attacking his parents at home after they refused to give him S$5,000 (RM16,555), breaching a court order that barred him from using violence against them.
According to The Straits Times, the man, who cannot be named due to gag orders under the Women’s Charter, had previously served reformative training for assaulting his parents in 2021. Despite this, he returned to violent behaviour less than two years later.
On April 14, he asked his 59-year-old father for S$5,000 while they were in the living room. When told there was no money to give, he punched his father on the shoulder and back. His 60-year-old mother, alerted by the commotion, was then confronted and similarly assaulted after saying she also had no money.
The court heard that the man “grabbed her shirt and demanded S$5,000 from her. He punched her on the right ear” when she refused.
He then issued a chilling threat in Mandarin: if they did not give him money, he would “beat them to death before jumping down a building.”
His frightened parents fled their home and contacted the police. The man was arrested a week later, on April 21.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei pressed for a jail term of five and a half to seven months, citing the serious nature of the domestic violence.
“The accused had threatened his own parents, and breached personal protection orders taken out against him,” she reportedly told the court.
The man, who was unrepresented, said he was remorseful and sought leniency.
“I regret what I have done to my parents. I want to admit myself into a halfway house when I am out (of jail) to change myself,” he reportedly said.
Criminal intimidation involving threats of death is punishable with up to 10 years’ jail, a fine, or both. Voluntarily causing hurt carries a maximum of three years’ jail, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.
