Indian in Singapore bites off colleague’s finger in drunken brawl, jailed

PTI, Feb 26, 2022, 10:45 AM IST

Singapore: A 31-year-old Indian national was sentenced to 10 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing grievous hurt by biting off the tip of his colleague’s pinky finger during a fight.

Logan Govindaraj bit a portion of his 42-year-old compatriot Muthu Selvam’s left little finger that was later found at the crime scene. However, a doctor, who attended to Selvam, could not reattach the finger to his hand, The Straits Times reported.

At 4.30 pm on December 6, 2020, Govindaraj joined Selvam and another worker, who was playing music and drinking alcohol, in a lorry parked near their dormitory at an industrial estate in Kranji Crescent on the west coast of Singapore.

The court heard that Govindaraj drank at least three cans of beer.

While drunk, Govindaraj scolded Selvam and falsely accused him of sleeping with the other workers in their dormitory. After both of them got off the lorry, Govindaraj kept shouting and obstructed Selvam, who pushed him out of the way while placing his left hand on the former’s chest.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Lee told the court, “The accused bit the victim’s left pinky knowing he would likely cause grievous hurt to him.” Selvam, who was bleeding profusely, retaliated by slapping Govindaraj’s head and grabbing his shirt.

Realising that the tip of his finger was missing, Selvam went to clean it and asked his colleagues to call an ambulance. He was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.