Pregnant woman kicked and punched by stranger
Above: Miss Xiao Xia claimed that the man stepped on her leg repeatedly after she fell onto the floor. She also claimed that she is two months pregnant.
By Joyce Lim
The New Paper
Thursday, Jun 28, 2012
The CCTV footage is grainy but shocking in the ferocity of the sudden violence against an apparently pregnant woman by a tall, burly man.
It begins with her leaning at a table at a foodcourt. A man seated at the table then suddenly lashes out at her face with his hand.
He then stands up and swings a punch at her. As she falls to the floor, he stands over her, then raises his foot and stamps it down.
It is unclear where his foot landed as part of the view is obscured by the counter of a drinks stall.
As she tries to get up, he pushes her with his foot, sending her tumbling about a metre into a chair.
The incident happened on Saturday morning at a foodcourt in Peace Centre at Sophia Road. From the footage captured by closed-circuit television cameras installed in the foodcourt, it is unclear what sparked the brutal attack.
The victim, a Chinese tourist who gave her name as Miss Xiao Xia, 20, gave her account of the incident to Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao later that day.
Strangers
She claimed it was all because she had accidentally splattered some soup on the man, who was among three strangers sharing the table with her group of friends.
As she had wanted to try her friend's soup, she bent forwards to pick up a piece of meat with her chopsticks.
But the meat dropped into her friend's soup bowl and splattered some soup on the man's face. The next thing she knew, he was attacking her.
Miss Xiao, who is from Hunan province in China, said she was punched in the face and kicked in her stomach. She said the man also stepped on her legs.
She told Lianhe Wanbao that she is two months pregnant and had felt pain in her tummy after the attack.
She added that she had found out about her pregnancy only two days before her trip to Singapore two weeks ago.
A police spokesman told The New Paper that they received a call on Saturday at about 12.40am requesting for assistance in a foodcourt at Sophia Road.
"Upon police arrival, it was established that a dispute had broken out between two parties. Police have advised the parties involved on their legal recourse and they have acknowledged it," the spokesman added.
Miss Xiao said that she had gone to the foodcourt for supper with some friends, and three men joined them at their table as the place was packed.
Miss Xiao told Lianhe Wanbao that she had initially planned to return to China on Sunday, but postponed her flight as she wanted to pursue legal recourse with the man.
"When I fell on the floor, I saw some empty beer bottles and I picked one up to protect myself. I wanted to throw the bottle at him if he charged at me again," she said.
"When he saw me holding a bottle, he stepped on me some more. He continued to step and kick me in my stomach. Luckily, the foodcourt staff pulled him away and my friends helped me to get up."
No warning
After she accidentally splattered the soup on him, she said, the man did not give her any warning before lashing at her face with his hand.
Miss Xiao said that she scolded the man, whom she described as 1.8m tall with a strong build, and he got up and attacked her further.
She alleged that he hurled vulgarities at her as he hit her repeatedly and said that he was not afraid if she wanted to call the police.
Her friends told Lianhe Wanbao that other diners gathered around and some threw their chopsticks at the man as their way of showing displeasure at his actions.
Lianhe Wanbao also quoted a diner sitting near Miss Xiao as having heard her apologising to the man repeatedly that the soup spillage was an accident.
Miss Xiao said that a man named Mr Liu, who is with the foodcourt's management office, had called the police. Mr Liu could not be reached for comment yesterday.
When TNP went to the foodcourt yesterday afternoon, a man from the management office said the management had handed the relevant video footage to the police. He declined to comment further.
After the incident, Miss Xiao called her sister, who rushed to the scene and demanded compensation from the attacker.
She claimed the man offered Miss Xiao $500 to cover her medical fees. But she rejected the offer as she felt the amount was too little and that he was insincere in wanting to compensate her sister.
Miss Xiao told Lianhe Wanbao on Sunday that she had gone for a check-up at Singapore General Hospital and was told that her baby is fine.
She has told her boyfriend in China about the incident and he is trying to apply for a passport to come to Singapore.
Miss Xiao added that she will be seeking help from the Chinese Embassy and hopes to extend her stay in Singapore until she settles the matter.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
