Singapore Will Review Assault Case Penalties After Public Outcry

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore will conduct a review on legal penalties for assault cases, the country’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said in a Facebook post.

The minister’s comments were in response to public outcry after a male dentistry student was handed a non-jail sentence, which included community service, for assaulting his ex-girlfriend. If the sentence is completed, the individual will not retain any criminal record. He could have faced up to 2 years imprisonment for the offense.

“I can understand their unhappiness” at the case’s outcome, Shanmugam said, adding that female Members of Parliament had also spoken to him on the matter.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also been instructed by Shanmugam to review:

• The extent to which educational background and other factors should be relevant in sentencing
• The relative punishment between different offenses such as between causing hurt and other offenses like theft or spitting

“What we need to do is to review the relevant legal policies, as well as the processes, to make sure that penalties imposed are consistent with our values. We will do this,” Shanmugam said. He will make a statement in Parliament once the review is completed.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.