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Jail for man who hit intellectually disabled friend; his family allegedly knocked her teeth out with hammer

SINGAPORE — When Hany Aboubakr Abdelkarim Abdelfattah’s wife learned that their intellectually disabled tenant had performed sex acts on him, she confronted the pair of them and forced her husband to slap the woman.

A woman who suffered physical abuse from Hany Aboubakr Abdelkarim Abdelfattah and his wife was rushed to a hospital in a near-death state.

A woman who suffered physical abuse from Hany Aboubakr Abdelkarim Abdelfattah and his wife was rushed to a hospital in a near-death state.

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  • A family attacked an intellectually disabled woman with pliers, a hammer and a baseball bat
  • Hany Aboubakr Abdelkarim Abdelfattah’s wife also forced him to slap her
  • The victim had performed sex acts on Hany
  • The wife later tied the victim up and forced her to eat noodles on which she had urinated 

 

SINGAPORE — When Hany Aboubakr Abdelkarim Abdelfattah’s wife learned that their intellectually disabled tenant had performed sex acts on him, she confronted the pair of them and forced her husband to slap the woman.

Several members of the family ended up allegedly assaulting her with various weapons, such as pliers to twist her toes, a hammer to knock out her teeth, and a baseball bat to hit her head.

They also splashed boiling water on her, but the torture did not stop there.

A year later, Hany’s wife, Haslinda Ismail, assaulted her again and bound her with cable ties, forcing her to stand in the kitchen throughout Hari Raya Haji celebrations. Haslinda later urinated in a packet of noodles and demanded that the victim eat it.

On Tuesday (Nov 3), Hany, 33, was sentenced to three weeks’ jail after pleading guilty to a single charge of causing hurt to the 30-year-old victim. District Judge John Ng considered another charge for sentencing.

The Egyptian is the first individual to be dealt with over the case.

His wife Haslinda and four of her family members, including her mother Hasmah Sulong, have also been charged.

The Singaporeans’ cases are pending, with most of them set to plead guilty later this month.

When the victim was examined earlier this year, an Institute of Mental Health consultant found that she had mild intellectual disability. This would have affected her ability to seek the appropriate help.

The abuse caused her to develop a visual disability.

THE FIRST ASSAULT

The court heard that the victim had known Haslinda’s youngest brother from secondary school since 2008.

She then got to know Haslinda and the rest of her family. This included Haslinda’s mother, three other brothers and her sister.

The victim grew close to the family, addressing Hasmah as “makcik” (auntie in Malay) and Haslinda and her sister as “kak” (older sister in Malay).

She ran away from her home for the first time, due to family problems, in mid-2011, and periodically stayed at Haslinda’s flat in Woodlands.

The victim ran away for good in 2016 and moved in with Haslinda’s family, getting a job with the McDonald’s outlet at Woodlands Mart.

She did not pay rent, but paid Hasmah S$150 a month for laundry. She slept on a mat in the living room and bought her own food.

Hany, who worked nearby at Giant supermarket, began talking to the victim and they became friends.

While at a staircase landing at the Woodlands Mart car park, she performed sex acts on him sometime around May 2016.

A few days later, Haslinda accused her of the acts and confronted her in the flat's kitchen. Court documents did not state how she learnt about what happened.

Haslinda scolded the victim and slapped her, before telling Hany to point his middle finger at her and also slap her, which he did twice.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ang Feng Qian told the court that after this, other family members “engaged in various acts of abuse”, including knocking out her teeth.

THE SECOND ASSAULT

The family took the victim to Malaysia on a few occasions to help clean their apartment in Johor Baru.

When Haslinda allegedly injured her again there in August 2017, Hasmah told Haslinda not to take the victim to Malaysia anymore, DPP Ang said.

On Aug 31, 2017 — the eve of Hari Raya Haji — Haslinda took the victim to their new flat to help with preparations.

There, Haslinda made her stand in the kitchen throughout the night until 11am the next day, keeping watch to make sure she did not use the toilet or sleep at night.

The victim eventually could not control her bladder and urinated on the floor. Furious, Haslinda hit her with a broomstick till it broke into two, then used a hanger and wet towel instead to continue hitting her.

She also tied up the victim’s hands and legs with cable ties, making her continue to stand there in her soiled trousers.

Haslinda’s family members arrived but did nothing.

When Hasmah got there with two packets of “hor fun”, or Chinese noodles, Haslinda threw one away and urinated in the other, demanding that the victim eat it.

Hany was there and saw the victim take a few bites “as she was very hungry”, DPP Ang said.

He then slapped the victim twice on his wife’s instructions.

Haslinda removed the cable ties from the victim only after the rest of the family left in the evening.

The victim was rushed to a hospital in a near-death state on Jan 16, 2018. Court documents did not reveal more.

In mitigation, Hany’s lawyer, Ms Audrey Koo from Populus Law Corporation, said that her client was “extremely sorry and genuinely remorseful”.

Hany has to take care of his two children, one of whom suffers from a learning disability, the lawyer added.

For voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been jailed up to two years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

Related topics

assault court crime intellectually disabled

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