Bangladeshi worker gets 3½ years' jail and caning for stabbing domestic worker

Ahamed Suhel was sentenced to 3½ years' jail and six strokes of the cane for stabbing a maid in the stomach twice. ST GRAPHICS

SINGAPORE - A Bangladeshi construction worker confronted his former girlfriend and stabbed her in the abdomen twice while she was walking home with her employer's child in a pram.

Ahamed Suhel, 29, had waited for Indonesian maid Nuri Samad, 32, at Gentle Road in Novena opposite a mosque at about 1pm on March 1 last year.

The maid had ended their three-year relationship.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Rene Jeyaraj said Suhel confronted the victim while she was on her way home and asked whether she had a new boyfriend.

He had confronted her previously, the last time being in November 2015 where he hinted he had a knife but did not flash it in front of her.

In the stabbing incident, Suhel took the victim's mobile phone to read her messages after confronting her again.

As it was password-protected, he handed the phone to her to unlock it.

While she was unlocking her phone, he took out a 17cm-long knife from underneath his shirt and stabbed her twice in the abdomen. One puncture went through her abdomen, perforating her colon and stomach.

As the victim turned around to run away, Suhel hit her on the head with the knife and caused a cut on her scalp. He then threw the knife down.

A 51-year-old man, standing on the opposite side of the road near the mosque, saw the attack.

The victim ran towards him and shouted for help. The people inside the mosque heard her shouts and came out to assist her. Suhel was detained.

Ms Nuri underwent an emergency operation at Tan Tock Seng Hospital after suffering two stab wounds on her abdomen and another over her right back.

DPP Jeyaraj said the victim suffered permanent scarring on her abdomen as a result of the attack, and still experiences some discomfort as a result of the operation.

District Judge Lorraine Ho who sentenced Suhel to 3½ years' jail and six strokes of the cane said the offence was pre-meditated, and a stiff sentence was warranted.

She said such violent behaviour could not be condoned, and she hoped that the accused would learn from this lesson.

Suhel could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned or received any combined punishment for causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

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