Fish farm worker jailed for striking colleague with mallet because he walked around naked

SINGAPORE: Upset that his colleague had been walking around the fish farm naked again, a man picked up a mallet and struck his colleague with it.

The victim, a 38-year-old Myanmar national, suffered a laceration on his forehead and a fracture of his sinus bone.

Fellow Myanmar national Saw Paing Soe Thu, 35, was given 13 months' jail on Tuesday (Jul 6). He pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to the victim with a mallet.

The court heard that Saw Paing Soe Thu worked at a fish farm off Lim Chu Kang with the victim.

About one to two months before April this year, the victim walked around the farm in the nude. Saw Paing Soe Thu saw this and told him not to do so.

At about 6pm on Apr 9, Saw Paing Soe Thu was cooking while the victim was taking a shower.

After his shower, the victim did not put on his clothes. Instead, he walked naked to the cooking area to switch off a stove where he had been heating a kettle.

Saw Paing Soe Thu was cooking at the same stove. When the victim approached him from behind while stark naked, Saw Paing Soe Thu told him off. He said he was angry with the victim for walking close to him while naked. 

Saw Paing Soe Thu subsequently drank half a bottle of rice wine. He said he thought about the incident and his anger rose as it was not the first time the victim had appeared nude before him.

He took a mallet from the storage area that they used to hammer the fish and approached the victim, who was talking on the phone.

Saw Paing Soe Thu hit the victim once on the forehead. The victim fell to the ground and bled profusely from his head. He did not retaliate and called the owner of the fish farm for help.

The owner called the Police Coast Guard for help, and the victim was taken to Lim Chu Kang Jetty with the help of other workers, and subsequently to hospital.

A medical report found a 6cm forehead laceration on the victim, as well as a frontal sinus bone fracture. He underwent surgery and was discharged on Apr 12 with hospitalisation leave until May 2.

The accused was arrested and his blood and urine samples were taken. Tests found he had 48mg of ethanol per 100ml of blood and 116mg of ethanol per 100ml of urine.

For voluntarily causing hurt by a dangerous weapon, he could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these penalties.

CNA has contacted the Attorney-General's Chambers on whether any action will be taken against the victim for appearing in the nude.