Indian-origin Singaporean jailed for humiliating man over unpaid debt

Singapore: A 47-year-old Indian-origin man was on Friday sentenced to five months in jail for having forced another man to strip and perform several exercises for not paying his inflated debt of about SGD6,000.

A similar charge and a charge of voluntarily causing hurt were also taken into consideration for sentencing Nadeson Pillai Sockalingam Pillai. He also made the man dress up, head to a barber and shave his beard and head.

The convict's two Indian-origin friends, Jay Shawn Fernandez and Jude Prabu Davias Pathy, have also been charged with criminal intimidation.

One of Pillai's friends recorded the humiliating acts against the man, reported TODAY newspaper on Friday. The proceedings against the two were not mentioned in the newspaper.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Andre Chong told the court that the victim had borrowed about SGD400 from Jay and agreed to pay him SGD700 on March 26 last year.

However, the victim repaid just SGD200 and Jay continued to inflate the debt, which he estimated to be about SGD6,000 by May 13.

That same day, Jay asked Nadeson and Jude to meet him and the victim at a bar in Woodlands. "Thereafter, Jay told the accused and Jude to accompany him to confront the victim for failing to repay the debt. Jude and the accused agreed," DPP Chong said.

The trio took turns to physically assault the victim at a bar, with Nadeson hitting the victim's cheek with a bangle.

After that, they made the victim march to a warehouse at Woodlands Industrial Estate in northern Singapore, which Jay recorded on his mobile phone.

At the warehouse, Jay ordered the victim strip naked. When the victim hesitated, the trio threatened to beat him up again.

"The victim, having been assaulted by the trio shortly before this, was placed in substantial fear by the threat. He complied and removed all his clothing," TODAY quoted DPP Chong as saying in the court.

The victim was then forced to perform sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks and sprints while naked for three to five minutes, which Jay recorded on his phone.

He then warned the victim that he would publish the video online if the victim filed a police report.

The victim was then ordered by the trio to dress up and accompany them to a barber.

There, the barber was asked to shave the victim's head and beard. This incident was also recorded by Jay.

The victim made a police report on May 29 and Jay was arrested the same day. Jude was arrested on July 25 and Nadeson remained at large until Jan 24 this year.

DPP Chong sought a sentence of six to eight months, noting the three had 'no qualms in seeing through with their threat' of beating up the victim, having just physically assaulted him earlier.

"The prior physical assault also amplified the force of the threat in the victim's mind, causing him greater fear that he would be beaten up yet again," he added.

"The victim's fear would have been further compounded by the context in which the threat was made — at an isolated location, where he was outnumbered by the accused person three to one, without the means to extricate himself."

DPP Ching said that the trio's decision to film the victim 'only served to increase his humiliation'.

In his mitigation plea, Nadeson said that he had been drunk then.

He also questioned the extent of the victim's injuries from the physical assault and asked if the victim had visited a hospital.

"(The victim) was holding my friend's money and never paid back, but took it to another bar and spent it on the women in the bar," Nadeson claimed in court, adding that he felt it was 'unfair' he was being held in jail while the victim was free.

Nadeson's sentence was backdated to Jan 24, the date of his arrest.

For criminal intimidation, he could have been jailed for up to two years or been fined, or both.