Teen involved in Little India slashing given 12 months' reformative training
SINGAPORE — A teenager who was part of a group involved in attacking a man at a bus stop in Little India last July was sentenced to 12 months of reformative training (RT) on Friday (5 July).
Sharvin Raj Suraj, 18, and four other men used a samurai sword, chopper and baton to attack 27-year-old Dhines Selvarajah, causing the victim’s right foot to be partly amputated.
Sharvin earlier pleaded guilty to one charge each of rioting with a deadly weapon, taking part in an unlawful assembly, and possession of a knife in public. All three charges relate to separate incidents between June last year and January this year.
He is the first in the group to be dealt with by the court. The cases against the other four men - Dinesh Kumar Ruvy, Arjun Retnavelu, Haresh Shanmuganathan, and Victor Alexander Arumugam - are still pending.
On 25 July last year, Sharvin was in a car with his four accomplices when Arjun spotted Dhines at a bus stop outside Broadway Hotel and opposite Minora Centre.
Arjun wanted to take revenge against the victim over a dispute they previously had, according to the prosecution.
At about 12.15pm, the group stopped the car at the road and helped themselves to a box of weapons that Arjun had placed in the car boot.
Arjun allegedly armed himself with a chopper while Dinesh purportedly took a samurai sword. Sharvin took a baton while Haresh and Victor were unarmed.
Haresh then confirmed the identity of the victim and signalled to the others to attack.
The group approached Dhines with their weapons and attacked him. Even after Arjun dropped the chopper, he allegedly took the baton from Sharvin and continued assaulting the victim. The group then fled to the car and Dinesh allegedly drove them away.
Arjun purportedly passed the samurai sword and the baton to a friend, Mathan Raj Kunasegaran, 25, in Yishun. The group later headed to the home of Arjun’s sister in Yishun before hiding at his cousin’s home in Sin Ming Industrial Estate.
Policemen arrested them at the Sin Ming home the next day.
The victim underwent surgery and was hospitalised for a week. Apart from his partly amputated foot, he sustained two cuts on the back of his head and his left upper back had to be stitched up.
Altercation with another man
While he was out on bail, Sharvin went for drinks at a pub in Dalhousie Lane in Little India on 2 January this year with another group, which also included Arjun.
Arjun saw another man with whom he had a grudge against. He asked the man to a fight but the man fled from the pub.
After the pub closed, the group was driving along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 when they saw the man alighting from a taxi. The group alighted and chased after the man but lost sight of him.
A resident called the police to inform them about the commotion and officers arrived at the scene to conduct checks on the group. A foldable knife and a knuckle duster were found inside the car.
Separately, on 3 June last year, Sharvin was found at the coffee shop at Block 769 Yishun Avenue 3 with a 19cm long knife protruding from his pocket.
Pushing for reformative training, Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh stated that the attack was serious and that the victim suffered a grievous injury. Sharvin had also reoffended while on bail.
Sharvin’s lawyer Timothy Ng said his client had time to consider his actions while in remand and felt that RT was “appropriate”.
The defence lawyer said that RT allowed for more “intensive rehabilitation” which would prepare Sharvin’s reintegration into society.
The maximum punishment for rioting with a weapon is up to 10 years’ jail, along with caning for male offenders below 50.
For being a member of an unlawful assembly, Sharvin faces up to two years’ jail along with a fine.
For being armed with a knife in public, he could have been jailed for up to two years.
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