For violently defending the honour of his late mother, 54-year-old baker Chelladurai Nadarajan has been sentenced to a month in jail after he beat up his colleague with a metal rod.
Apparently, the ferocious outburst was caused by the victim — Wang Git Han — who had made a racist comment against his recently deceased mother, Channel NewsAsia reports.
The Sweetleaf Bakery and Deli staffer had been working at the Bedok branch around 3am on Nov 29 last year when the incident transpired. Following a work-related dispute, Wang had taunted his colleague and even challenged him to a fight — of which Chelladurai ignored initially. It was after Wang made the racist comment about his late mother than Chelladurai lost control, using a 70cm-long metal rod and struck the victim down repeatedly.
For provoking his colleague, Wang ended up with a fractured kneecap, a cut on his forehead and bruising of the heart muscle in the “prolonged and sustained” assault. He was hit with the metal rod 24 times before another colleague intervened and halted the attack.
In court, sympathies were with Chelladurai even though it was agreed that his attacks were deemed excessive and warranted a jail term. The baker had shown remorse following the assault, and even paid for Wang’s medical expenses of $2,300.
“This must be very hard on you,” District Judge Kessler Soh said to Chelladurai. “If you encounter this in future, you must try to get away from it… exercise your control”.
