67-year-old victim dies after 2024 assault by man over drug dispute in Geylang
An elderly man died after being repeatedly assaulted by a man who was buying drugs in a back alley in Geylang.
The 41-year-old assailant has been sentenced to jail and caning for the fatal incident in August 2024, according to court documents seen by Shin Min Daily News.
Source: Google Maps
Man goes to Geylang alley to buy illegal drugs
The court heard that on 3 Aug 2024, Zubir Mohamed went with his wife to a back alley next to 669 Geylang Road to purchase illegal drugs.
Some of the substances they were looking for were cough syrup, a prescription stimulant named Armodafinil and Erimin-5 tablets, or sleeping pills.
Zubir tried to get free drugs from the dealer by lying that it was his wife’s birthday, but he was rejected.
He then asked 67-year-old retiree Sivarajoo Pitchay Pillai for cash and was given S$20 to buy cough syrup.
Assault breaks out over drugs in Geylang
Later, Mr Sivarajoo and Zubir discussed the quality of the sleeping pills, with the elderly man showing Zubir some of the pills.
Source: Yvette S on Unsplash. Photo for illustration purposes only.
But Mr Sivarajoo later complained that some of his pills had allegedly gone missing after Zubir touched his pocket.
When confronted, Zubir became angry and hurled vulgarities at the elderly man.
Between 2.32pm and 2.35pm, Zubir pushed Mr Sivarajoo, causing him to fall to the ground, then punched him.
When the elderly man attempted to get up using his walking stick, Zubir tried to snatch it away and pushed him to the ground again.
Man continues assault despite wife & drug dealer trying to stop him
At this point, Zubir’s wife and the drug dealer, a man named Chen Junyu, tried to stop him.
But Mr Sivarajoo got up and continued the argument, leading Zubir to shove him to the ground again.
This time, the elderly man’s head hit the ground.
Unrelenting, Zubir took his broken walking stick and threw it at him, then continued to rain blows on him.
Chen intervened, telling Zubir to leave and helping Mr Sivarajoo to a chair.
By this time, his eyes were red and he was bleeding from his nose and mouth.
Man returns & shoves victim again
The incident did not end there.
Some three minutes later, Zubir returned and Mr Sivarajoo slowly approached him.
As he did so, Zubir started shouting at him again and shoved him to the ground a fifth time.
The elderly man’s head hit the ground and he was unable to get up.
Elderly man dies in hospital
When Chen returned to the scene, he found Mr Sivarajoo foaming at the mouth and bleeding from his ears and nose.
At about 2.55pm, the victim tried to sit up with the help of the police.
But he died from his injuries after being conveyed to the hospital.
Man sentenced to 6 years & 10 months’ jail
Zubir eventually faced a total of 13 charges, including voluntarily causing grievous hurt, intentional assault and theft.
Appearing in court last Friday (24 April), he pleaded guilty to four charges. The remaining charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The judge finally sentenced him to a prison term of six years and 10 months, as well as 12 strokes of the cane.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
