Indian-origin jailed for hurting pregnant girlfriend in Singapore
Singapore: A 24-year-old Indian-origin man in Singapore has been sentenced to ten weeks in jail for his penchant for violence, having no control over his rage and hurting his pregnant girlfriend.
Mohamed Mustaffa Ali was sentenced on Wednesday by the Singapore District Court Judge Mathew Joseph after he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault - one was a road rage case last year and the other for hurting his pregnant girlfriend in 2017.
The judge also ticked off Mustaffa for his penchant for violence and having no control over his rage, reported The New Paper on Thursday.
The judge sentenced Mustaffa to 10 weeks' jail, the report said.
In the early hours of June 11 2017, Mustaffa had quarrelled with his girlfriend Shahiqah Nadiyeh Mohammad Herman, then 21, over her former boyfriend.
The agitated Mustaffa slapped her face three times and kicked her thigh twice, despite knowing she was four months pregnant with his child, the report added.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Chong told the court that Mustaffa had also pulled her off a mattress she was sitting on in a cousin house.
"The accused then dragged the victim out of the room and into the corridor... by her legs," Ng said.
His cousin then called the police. When the police arrived, Shahiqah refused to have a medical examination but told them she had bruises from Mustaffa's assault.
She later gave birth to a healthy boy and married Mustaffa last December.
In another incident, in March last year, Mustaffa was driving a rented car on the extreme right lane of the Kranji Expressway at about 9pm when he flashed the high beam at a car travelling in front of him at 60 to 70km/h.
The car moved to the middle lane, but when the vehicles were side by side, both drivers wound down their windows to exchange vulgarities and rude gestures.
They then stopped their cars at the road shoulder and got out to confront each other.
When Mustaffa raised his hands, the other man, Lum Wai Keong, 49, punched him in the face.
Mustaffa returned to his car to grab a wooden stick about the length of two arms and hit Lum with it repeatedly until it broke.
Lum, who suffered abrasions on his knee and forearms, has been charged in court with assaulting Mustaffa. His case is pending.
Mustaffa told the court that he had hit Shahiqah after losing control of himself because of stress from his recent divorce.
"I find your actions quite disgusting and despicable," the Judge told the accused.
"You used violence once before and you did it again. You think our Singapore roads are some kind of lawless place? I have no sympathy for your actions."
He told Mustaffa that marrying the woman he hurt did not reduce his culpability. "Even though she is your wife now, that does not in any way diminish your responsibility."
He then sentenced Mustaffa to six weeks' jail for voluntarily causing hurt in the road rage case and four weeks' jail for hurting Shahiqah.
Another charge for committing a rash act by pulling her off the bed was taken into consideration during sentencing.
For each count of voluntarily causing hurt, Mustaffa could have been jailed for up to two years, or fined up to SGD5,000, or both.
For committing a rash act, he could have been jailed for up to a year, or fined up to SGD5,000, or both.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
