He bashes her till she passes out
Man lashes out at lover who had been avoiding him
They had been in a relationship for 22 years and had four children.
But during the last two years, she avoided him.
So in September last year, he hunted her down at her workplace near Novena Square 2.
He then dragged her to the mall's first storey and bashed her till she lost two teeth, suffered multiple facial fractures and passed out.
And this was in front of their two daughters and horrified members of the public.
For that, Malaysian national Karunagaran Ratnam, 49, a storekeeper, was yesterday sentenced to 16 months' jail and given three strokes of the cane.
Karunagaran had been in a relationship with Ms Kalaivani Sakaran, 37, also a Malaysian, who works as a cleaner. Even though they were not married, they had four kids.
On Sept 14, 2014, Ms Kalaivani was taking a break at her workplace when she saw Karunagaran, whom she had been avoiding for the past two years, approaching her.
Immediately, she tried to run away but he caught up with her.
He then pulled her to the first storey of Novena Square 2 and repeatedly punched the sobbing woman on her cheeks, face and chest.
Onlookers pleaded with him to stop, but he continued his attack.
And even when Ms Kalaivani fell to the floor and was bleeding, Karunagaran did not hold back.
DAUGHTERS
Instead, he dragged her back up and continued his assault, even though his two daughters, aged 12 and 20, were there.
Finally, a member of the public separated him from Ms Kalaivani, who fainted at some point. Another passer-by called the police and Karunagaran was arrested.
Ms Kalaivani was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and treated for her injuries. She was discharged the following night and was given a week's hospitalisation leave.
But as her injuries were serious, she returned to the hospital the following month for surgery.
Karunagaran earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Ms Kalaivani.
His lawyer said in mitigation that Karunagaran was remorseful for his actions.
He added that his client behaved that way because he had heard rumours that Ms Kalaivani was having an affair with another man.
For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, Karunagaran could have been jailed up to 10 years, fined and caned.
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