SINGAPORE — Angered that a youth was supposedly harassing his female friend, a 17-year-old male gathered four friends to beat him up, before forcing him to strip naked and drink urine while threatening him with a parang.

On Tuesday (June 18), the offender, now 18, was sentenced to two years' probation with various strict conditions, including one year at Singapore Boys' Hostel. He must also serve 100 hours of community service.

The teen pleaded guilty in April to one count each of rioting with a deadly weapon and criminal intimidation, with one charge of fighting in a public place taken into consideration for sentencing.

All parties cannot be named as they were under 18 years of age at the time of the offences.

WHAT HAPPENED

According to court documents, the offender met up with four male friends sometime in March 2023 and told them he wanted to beat up the victim as the victim had been harassing his female friend.

They agreed to accompany him.

The teen messaged the victim, then 16, using his female friend’s Instagram account to meet at a multi-storey car park toilet in Bukit Batok for sex on March 20. The victim agreed.

When the victim arrived and knocked on the toilet door, the offender opened the door and pulled him in. His four friends who were nearby, followed the victim in.

The offender held a parang on the victim’s neck, threatening to cut him. While smoking, he ordered the victim to strip naked and threatened to slash him with the weapon if the victim was not naked before he finished his cigarette. 

“The victim obeyed as he was scared,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Pavithra Ramkumar.

After the victim stripped himself, the offender asked him to kneel before physically assaulting him. He then asked the victim to apologise to his friend.

The offender later passed the victim a bottle which his two friends had urinated into, and forced the victim to drink its entire content. The victim was later assaulted by one of the offender’s friends.

The offender and his friends filmed the victim at various points of the ordeal.

The offender then ordered the victim to wear his clothes and allowed him to leave, but warned him that he would attack him again if he reported the incident to the police.

At about 9.20pm the same day, the victim returned home. His father noticed his injuries and took him to National University Hospital the next day and later made a police report.

The offender was identified via police camera footage and arrested on March 22.

Two of the offender’s friends who were involved in the incident have been sentenced to probation, while the cases for the remaining two are still pending.

Along with the probation, the offender's mother is required to lodge a S$5,000 good behaviour bond on her son's behalf. Four months after his discharge from the hostel, the teen is to attend a violence prevention programme.

Addressing the offender's mother in court on Tuesday, the judge advised her to give her son a lot of encouragement and support as he serves his sentence.

For rioting with a deadly weapon, the teen could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned.

For criminal intimidation, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.