Man, 59, gets 12 years' preventive detention for knife attack on flatmate he suspected was dating his girlfriend
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- Abdul Karim V Sickander, 59, attacked his flatmate in a lift after suspecting him of having an affair with his girlfriend
- He used a knife with a 15-cm long blade to slash and stab his flatmate while the lift travelled from the 10th to the ground floor
- Abdul Karim was sentenced to 12 years of preventive detention, a very severe punishment typically imposed on recalcitrant offenders, and an enhanced sentence of 100 days' jail
BY
JASMINE ONG
Published June 13, 2023Updated June 13, 2023
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SINGAPORE — Having harboured suspicions that his flatmate was having an affair with his girlfriend, Abdul Karim V Sickander decided to attack the man in the lift as he was returning home.
Using a knife with a blade of about 15cm in length, Abdul Karim slashed and stabbed the 62-year-old, leaving him with multiple injuries.
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Abdul Karim, 59, was sentenced to 12 years of preventive detention on Tuesday (June 13) after he pleaded guilty in May to two charges of causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons alongside two drug consumption charges.
Preventive detention is a very severe punishment that is typically imposed when the District Court finds that a recalcitrant offender should be locked away to protect the public. It does not offer remission for good behaviour.
Three other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
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Abdul Karim was also given an enhanced sentence of 100 days' jail as he had committed the offences while he was on a remission order from prison.
The victims' names and location of the incident were redacted in court documents.
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WHAT HAPPENED
According to court documents prepared by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Matthew Choo, prior to his release from prison, Abdul Karim rented a flat with a 62-year-old man.It was not stated if the two men were friends.
Some time before June 23 last year, Abdul Karim had harboured suspicions that his flatmate was having an affair with his girlfriend named Tuti.
Court documents did not elaborate on what led him to this conclusion.
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Abdul Karim eventually confronted the victim who denied the affair.
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Despite the denial, Abdul Karim still felt betrayed and their relationship deteriorated. The victim eventually moved out of the flat about a week before June 23 to avoid further confrontation.
On the evening of June 23, after consuming a mix of alcohol and drugs, Abdul Karim returned to his flat after work with the hope of catching his former flatmate and Tuti in the flat. Court documents did not state Abdul Karim's occupation at the time of the incident.
Around the same time, Abdul Karim's former flatmate and his Indonesian girlfriend had returned to the flat to pick up some clothes but stopped short of entering the flat when they noticed the lights were switched on.
Not wanting to get into another confrontation with Abdul Karim, the couple decided to head back to the void deck to call the police.
When Abdul Karim was unable to find anyone at home, he became angry and proceeded to take two knives: A small knife with a blade of about 15cm in length and a kitchen knife with a blade of about 22cm.
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He tucked them into his back pocket and left the flat.
THE ATTACK
After heading to the void deck, the victim and his girlfriend made their way back to the flat after they saw a parked police vehicle and assumed that the police officers were at the flat.However, Abdul Karim was waiting at the lift lobby of his 10th floor unit when the lift doors opened.
He took out the small knife, entered the lift and started slashing at the victim and his girlfriend, who tried to stop the attack.
The woman eventually managed to get out of the lift and ran along the common corridor shouting for help.
During this time, the lift doors closed and Abdul Karim continued his assault on his former flatmate by slashing and stabbing him while the lift headed down.
At some point during the attack, the victim slipped and fell in his own pool of blood.
He tried to kick at Abdul Karim's leg in an attempt to stop him but to no avail.
The attack stopped when the lift arrived at the ground floor and Abdul Karim was escorted out of the lift by police who had arrived earlier.
Despite the presence of the police, Abdul Karim continued to confront his former flatmate and accused him of having an affair with his girlfriend.
Police then ordered Abdul Karim to drop the small knife that was still in his right hand.
Instead of doing so, Abdul Karim aimed and threw the small knife at his former flatmate.
The couple were both conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
The victim sustained multiple lacerations on his left arm, left area between the ribs and the hips, left thigh and left pelvic area, and needed to undergo emergency surgery to close the stab wounds.
His girlfriend sustained multiple lacerations on her chest, fingers and right area between the ribs and the hips.
Both were left with permanent scars after the incident.
FORTUNATE THAT VICTIM DID NOT DIE: JUDGE
In delivering his sentence, District Judge John Ng told Abdul Karim that it was fortunate that the victim did not die.He added that this case is "exactly" what the preventive detention applies to, especially when Abdul Karim has been in and out of prison for "many, many" different and serious offences that range from theft to violence and drugs.
For causing grievous hurt by means of stabbing, Abdul Karim could have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
