Suspended lawyer M. Ravi charged after slapping woman in Hindu temple

SINGAPORE – Suspended lawyer Ravi Madasamy, who is also known as M. Ravi, allegedly slapped a woman on her left cheek in a Hindu temple in South Bridge Road on Friday.

The 54-year-old was handed four charges at the State Courts on Saturday – one for voluntarily causing hurt, another for disorderly behaviour in public and two under the Protection from Harassment Act.

He allegedly slapped the woman at about 12pm in Sri Mariamman Temple, where he is also accused of shouting vulgarities and using indecent language.

He then purportedly called another woman in the temple a prostitute, with the intention of causing harassment.

Earlier, at about 11am, he allegedly used abusive words on a man in Pagoda Street by shouting a vulgarity in Tamil at him, also intending to cause harassment.

Ravi was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health on Saturday for a medical examination, and will return to court on Sept 29.

He has two other similar charges pending. On July 12,

he allegedly slapped a man on his left cheek

in the vicinity of Yio Chu Kang MRT station and shouted loudly while at the station.

Ravi is currently

serving the maximum suspension of five years

 for making “baseless and grave” allegations that undermine the integrity of Singapore’s justice system against the Attorney-General, prosecutors and the Law Society.

The misconduct arose from comments that he made to sociopolitical website The Online Citizen, as well as comments he posted on Facebook after the Court of Appeal reversed his client’s death sentence in 2020.

Those who are found guilty of disorderly behaviour in public can be fined up to $1,000 and jailed for up to one month. If they are repeat offenders, they can be fined up to $2,000, or jailed for up to six months, or both. For voluntarily causing hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to $5,000, or both.

Those who are found guilty of intending to cause harassment by using abusive words can be fined up to $5,000, jailed for up to six months, or both, under the Protection from Harassment Act.