ITE student who stabbed girl during row outside school given probation
SINGAPORE — Two Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College West students splashed drinks on each other while on an overhead bridge outside their school.
In retaliation, one of the girls, Tusheta Saravanan stabbed the other with a foldable knife that she had kept in her sock. The two girls did not know each other prior to the incident.
Tusheta, 18, who has since been expelled by her school, was sentenced to 21 months’ probation and had other conditions imposed on her during her hearing on Monday (16 December).
Apart from being required to stay indoors from 10pm to 6am and perform 180 hours of community service, a $5,000 bond was also placed on Tusheta’s mother to ensure her daughter’s good behaviour.
Tusheta had earlier pleaded guilty to causing hurt to 17-year-old Logeswari Natarajah with the knife on 21 February this year. A charge related to the possession of the knife was taken into consideration for sentencing.
At 12.30pm that day, Logeswari and three of her friends were crossing the overhead bridge along Bukit Batok Road when they encountered Tusheta, who was accompanied by two friends.
Tusheta splashed green tea onto Logeswari from a bottle. An argument broke out between the two girls before Logeswari left.
Tusheta’s group remained on the overhead bridge to smoke. Worried that Logeswari would return, Tusheta removed a black foldable knife - with an 8cm-long blade - from her sock, and placed it in her jacket pocket.
Some five to ten minutes later, Logeswari returned with a cup of milo and confronted Tusheta about the earlier incident. She splashed the milo into Tusheta’s face.
During the ensuing scuffle, Tusheta took out her knife and stabbed Logeswari in her abdomen and slashed her left arm.
The friends of the pair immediately intervened after realising Logeswari had been stabbed. The police were alerted to the incident at about 1.57pm.
After the fight broke up, Tusheta picked up Logeswari’s gold pendant, which came loose during the fight, and passed it to a friend for safekeeping. She intended to sell the pendant later. A charge of dishonest misappropriation, related to this act, has been taken into consideration for sentencing.
Logeswari, who sought treatment at a hospital, sustained a 4cm laceration on her abdomen and a superficial 1cm laceration on her left arm.
For causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, Tusheta could have been jailed up to seven years, or fined, or caned, or any combination of the punishments.
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