Lawyer M. Ravi charged with voluntarily causing hurt; remanded in IMH for two weeks, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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Lawyer M. Ravi charged with voluntarily causing hurt; remanded in IMH for two weeks

This article is more than 12 months old

Lawyer M. Ravi was charged in court on Saturday (Aug 12) for three incidents.

The charges include causing public nuisance in Sri Mariamman Temple on July 31 and Aug 11 by using abusive language on people in the temple; and voluntarily causing hurt to Ms Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss and rash act against Mr Nakoorsha Abdul Kadir on Aug 8.

He is already facing three charges of housebreaking, but the trial dates have not been fixed yet.

In the Aug 8 incident, Ravi allegedly assaulted Mrs Chong-Aruldoss, a lawyer, outside her office at the Adelphi.

Mrs Chong-Aruldoss, 54, said she was walking to her office at Eugene Thuraisingam LLP at about 11am that day when Ravi, a non-practising human rights lawyer, allegedly accosted her with "three big-sized thugs" and pushed her to the ground.

She added that the commotion attracted people who came to her aid, including Mr Nakoorsha, a partner at the same law firm where she works.

Ravi, 48, allegedly caused Mrs Chong-Aruldoss to suffer from a pain on her right shoulder. He also threw a bag at Mr Nakoorsha, according to court documents.

In court on Saturday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok asked for Ravi to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric observation, adding that he "may be dangerous to other persons" since his latest charges involved violence.

District Judge Carol Ling agreed with the prosecution that the psychiatric observation will allow the court to gain an insight into Ravi's state of mind.

Ravi will be remanded for two weeks and his case will be heard again on Aug 25.

The decision sparked a fiery 20 minute statement from Ravi, who accused the prosecution of lying about his mental health. He also said the judge should recuse herself from the case because of possible bias.

He said: "I would like to make an application to the court to disqualify yourself from this case because you do not have the security of tenure under the law... You are not independent as you can be transferred to the Attorney-General's Chambers at any time."

He also said he had been seeking treatment from psychiatrist Munidasa Winslow and had been given medicine.

On Saturday morning, officers accompanied Ravi to his home and Dr Winslow's clinic to get his medicine, but none was found.

Mr Kok said Ravi's behaviour did not appear to be under control even after these consultations. Later, he added that the hunt for the medicine in the morning was a "wild goose chase".

Ravi was the head of knowledge management at Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, but was fired in June.

He allegedly tried to enter the firm's People's Park Centre branch office after that and was charged with criminal trespass last month.

He has been barred from applying for a practising certificate for two years since last October.

 

COURT & CRIMEcrimeIMH