SINGAPORE — Two men were jailed on Monday (May 11) after pleading guilty to committing offences in mosques and assaulting police officers earlier this year in separate incidents. 

Djamaludin Supadi, 53, was sentenced to six months’ jail. In one incident, he kept taking off all his clothes at the Darul Aman Mosque in Eunos on March 3. 

Mosques had not yet been closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic at the time.

He also damaged a kentong, a type of drum, and punched a police officer who had responded to the incident with two other officers. 

Gravedigger Fadhil Yusop, 35, slashed a jogger on the forearm and chased a cyclist, before entering the main prayer hall of Masjid Al-Mawaddah in Sengkang and threatening a religious officer with a knife. 

The officer was conducting a religious class with about 100 students when the incident happened. 

He was sentenced to nine months and two weeks’ jail, backdated to his date of remand on Jan 21.

DJAMALUDIN’S CASE

The court heard that Djamaludin, who was unemployed, went to the Darul Aman Mosque intending to pray that afternoon. 

He claimed that he saw and heard an angel and felt “extreme power”. 

He had earlier taken pills that he bought in Geylang called "Power". He claimed that they gave him extra energy.

After entering the mosque, he went into a cordoned-off area and picked up a kentong, which is used to call a congregation to prayer.

After swinging the kentong at another hanging drum with great force, he fell. The kentong, which fell as well, cracked from the impact.

Djamaludin then rolled around on the ground for a while, got up, stripped naked and lay on the ground again, before deciding to put his underwear back on.

At this point, an imam — a religious leader at the mosque — alerted the mosque’s operations and facility officer to what was happening.

The officer tried but was unsuccessful in getting Djamaludin to keep his clothes on for an extended period of time, even using a sarong to cover his private parts after he stripped naked again.

The officer and a colleague held onto him until police officers arrived.

A worshipper at the mosque also called the police, saying: “Got one Malay man naked, opening everything. I see also, I cannot take it.”

When three police officers arrived and tried to speak to Djamaludin, he suddenly stood up and punched one of them in the ribs while shouting vulgarities. 

He also struggled violently while handcuffs were being placed on him. 

Two foldable knives and three cases of penknife blade refills were found on him later and he claimed that these were for his previous work as a kitchen helper. However, his former employer said that this was not the case.

In mitigation, Djamaludin said that he had lost his job and was in an “unstable state” when he took the pills which caused him to hallucinate.

FADHIL’S CASE

The court heard that on Jan 19, Fadhil took a 22cm-long knife from his kitchen and rode his bicycle in the direction of Masjid Al-Mawaddah.

Around 8pm, he came across a 24-year-old student jogging. 

When the victim saw Fadhil holding a knife, he decided to jog on the main road instead of the foot path to avoid a confrontation.

Fadhil caught up with him and slashed him on the forearm, leaving him with a 20cm-long bleeding cut. The victim ran away and received five stitches for his injury. 

Fadhil then came across another man, an employee of the Institute of Mental Health who was cycling towards the institute located in Buangkok. The employee immediately got down from his bicycle and gestured at Fadhil to stop. 

When Fadhil pointed the knife at him, he pushed the bicycle in Fadhil’s direction and ran the opposite way. Fadhil chased him but gave up after a while. 

At about 8.20pm, Fadhil entered the mosque and shouted “assalamualaikum” (Arabic for “peace be upon you”).

He then approached the 37-year-old religious officer and warned him not to teach anymore.

Alarmed, some of the attendees of the religious class detained Fadhil. The mosque's caretaker then called the police.

When police officers arrived, Fadhil claimed that while he was home, he heard voices telling him to go to the mosque.

While being arrested, he put up a violent struggle and kicked one of the policemen in the knee.

A psychiatrist’s report stated that Fadhil had taken a large number of cough suppressant pills. He had also been diagnosed in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) with substance use disorder.

In mitigation, he told the court that he regretted his actions. 

“I over-consumed my cough mixture as it was my habit to do so,” he said, adding that he was his family’s sole breadwinner and that his wife is pregnant with their fourth child.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gabriel Lim told the court that while Fadhil was diagnosed with substance use disorder, he was in control of his actions and was “self-intoxicated”.

District Judge Marvin Bay agreed, saying that the attack on the jogger was “vicious and unprovoked”.