SINGAPORE: A 36-year-old former banker was sentenced to six months’ jail on Wednesday (Mar 28) for punching a waitress who had rejected his advances.
Samson Tanuwidjaja was also ordered to pay about S$635 to compensate the victim, Ms Tessie Chen, who suffered a fractured nose as a result of the assault in 2015.
“Most men, when rejected, walk away. The accused, however, was unable to accept the fact that a waitress would reject him," Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelly Ho had said at an earlier hearing.
Ms Chen worked at Peyton Place, a restaurant at Orchard Towers. Tanuwidjaja had ordered drinks from her and propositioned her, but Ms Chen repeatedly rejected him.
He later waited for her outside the restaurant, but Ms Chen ran away upon seeing him, said the prosecutor.
Tanuwidjaja followed her. He grabbed her arm, shoved her into the bushes and punched her several times on the face, head and chest outside the Royal Thai Embassy along Orchard Road early in the morning of Oct 28, 2015.
AdvertisementAdvertisementMs Chen passed out and was later taken to hospital.
The prosecutor urged the court to sentence Tanuwidjaja to 15 months’ jail, saying that Ms Chen suffered long-lasting physical and emotional pain as a result of the assault.
Even as she was lying in hospital, she made repeated requests to be discharged as she did not feel safe, fearing that her attacker will find her there, said the prosecutor.
Although Ms Chen was in pain after being discharged, she did not contact the hospital for fear that she would be admitted again, the court heard.
She even missed a follow-up appointment with a nose specialist because she was afraid to leave the house, the prosecutor said. “One can only imagine the fear and trauma in Tessie when the accused pummeled her that day,” she added.
Tanuwidjaja, a Singapore permanent resident, was found guilty of the charge after a six-day trial. He maintains his innocence, claiming he had acted in self-defence, and plans to file an appeal, said Tanuwidjaja’s lawyer Mr Shashi Nathan.
According to Tanuwidjaja, had he called Ms Chen a “whore”, prompting her to rush at him with a sharp object she pulled out of her handbag. He shoved her, causing her to fall into the bushes, before he ran away, Tanuwidjaja claimed.
Following Tanuwidjaja’s conviction, Mr Nathan had argued that a four-month jail term would be appropriate.
“He had acted in a moment of indiscretion after being rejected by Tessie to join him (for a meal),” the lawyer said. Tanuwidjaja had not followed Ms Chen with the intention of assaulting her, he added.
Mr Nathan said Tanuwidjaja had been intoxicated at the time, urging the court to take into account “the impairment of (Tanuwidjaja’s) better judgment … and that his actions were wholly unplanned as a result”. Since the incident, Tanuwidjaja has become a teetotaler, the lawyer added.
He also pointed out mitigating factors in the case, including Tanuwidjaja’s cooperation with the authorities and that Ms Chen’s injuries were not “significantly serious”. She was given four days of medical leave and the fracture “did not cause her to suffer any permanent or obvious disfiguration”, Mr Nathan said.
The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that Tanuwidjaja’s “self-induced intoxication” is an aggravating factor. A prior conviction for drink driving “shows the accused’s propensity to commit offences arising from his alcohol consumption”, she said. The prosecutor added there are no mitigating factors in the case, and noted Tanuwidjaja “has not shown a single shred of remorse”.
For causing grievous hurt, Tanuwidjaja could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned.
He is on bail of S$30,000 pending the hearing of his appeal.
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