SINGAPORE - A 21-year-old man was on Friday (May 25) sentenced to two years' jail for stabbing a 40-year-old man in the back during the course of a fight that saw the victim go up against five young men.
The court heard that on Jan 31 last year, Mithunaaruban Elango was with a group of four other young men near a fast-food outlet at Block 448 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 when a dispute and a brief physical altercation broke out between Mr Mahendran Mohanakrishnan and the group at around 10pm in the night.
Upset over the dispute, Mr Mahendran returned home and took a knife with a 22cm blade from the kitchen. He then left his home in search of the group. When he found them, he approached them and swung the knife in the direction of one of the young men - Kannan Krishnamoorthy, 23. The blade caused an abrasion along Kannan's arm.
The group of five men immediately ganged up on Mr Mahendran and savagely beat him. He was punched and kicked even after he fell to the ground. One of the men, Karthikesan Krishnamoorthy, 24, pinned him down and grabbed his neck.
At some point, Mithunaaruban picked up the knife and stabbed the victim twice in the back. The group continued to kick the victim until he became unconscious. The knife was discarded at a nearby grass patch after the fight and the group fled the scene.
Police were alerted by a resident that a man lay injured on the pavement in front Block 453A Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. A few hours later, in the early morning of Feb 1, all five members of the group were arrested.
Mr Mahendran, who was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, suffered superficial wounds on both his shoulders and two stab wounds in his lower back measuring 3cm and 4cm. He was in the high dependency ward before being discharged on Feb 3.
Mithunaaruban has previous criminal records for voluntarily causing hurt and theft and dwelling. In sentencing, District Judge Kessler Soh noted his past offences and said that he hoped that Mithunaaruban would learn his lesson.
The other four men involved in the fight have been dealt with. Kannan received a one-year jail term while Karthikesan was jailed for 15 months. The other two men, John Lenin Aravind Thevar Elmmaran and Kandhan Siva Kumar, both 17, received two years of probation each.
For voluntarily causing hurt by way of a dangerous weapon, Mithunaaruban could have faced up to seven years in jail with a fine, caning or both.
