Man in prison for robbery attacks fellow inmate with improvised weapon; gets more jail and caning

SINGAPORE: While serving his jail term for robbing a moneylending shop in Jurong East, a young man slashed a fellow inmate with an improvised blade.
Karrtik Stalniraj, a 25-year-old Singaporean, received another three years and two months’ jail and four strokes of the cane on Friday (Nov 1).
The jail term will begin after he finishes his current imprisonment term of over five years for the 2020 Jurong East robbery. At the time of his sentencing in May 2022, he was also given 12 strokes of the cane for the robbery.
Karrtik pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a weapon likely to cause death. A second charge was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Karrtik had got into disputes with a fellow inmate, Kesava Vinayaga Murthi, over laundry issues and Kesava’s conduct during Karrtik’s family visits.
On Dec 13, 2022, Karrtik saw Kesava talking to a prison warden about work issues.
Karrtik was holding an improvised blade, with a handle made of tape. When he saw Kesava, he got angry and walked up to him from behind to tap his shoulder.
As Kesava turned around, Karrtik slashed his face with the blade, drawing blood on his cheek.
Karrtik ran away, but was restrained by enforcement officers.
The victim ended up with a 15cm-long laceration on his face, which left a permanent scar.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yee Jia Rong sought three-and-a-half to four years’ jail for Karrtik, along with four to five strokes of the cane.
He said it is aggravating that the offence was committed in prison, and Karrtik has multiple violence-related past convictions.
These include the May 2022 conviction for robbery with hurt.
Karrtik’s lawyer, Mr Wee Hong Shern from Ong & Co, asked for 30 months’ jail with four to five strokes of the cane instead.
He said a “hostile altercation” had occurred between his client and the victim when the victim oversaw laundry duties.
“When our client received his shirt however, it was coloured blue instead of white. Our client knew the reason for this; the discolouration was due to his shirt being mixed with pants during the wash as all their pants are blue,” said Mr Wee in the mitigation plea.
This was “against procedure” as shirts and pants needed to be washed separately, and Karrtik “knew that Kesava was either negligent or lazy in having his shirt washed together with pants”.
Karrtik suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Mr Wee said, but there was no causal link found between this condition and the offence.
However, as Karrtik did not want bad blood with Kesava, he “did the minimum required of him” and informed his officer about his discoloured shirt, said Mr Wee.
“He did not mention to his officer anything that could impute blame on Kesava,” said the lawyer.
He claimed that Kesava confronted Karrtik on Sep 4, 2022, shouting at him and demanding to know why he had to complain to the officer about his clothes.
According to him, Kesava challenged Karrtik to a fight, but Karrtik did not want to engage him and said he was not getting out of bed. A nearby officer told Kesava to return to his own cell immediately.
Both Karrtik and Kesava were charged and Karrtik was initially taken to a different housing unit while they waited for adjudication proceedings, said Mr Wee.
However, Karrtik was later taken back to the same housing unit and placed in the same day room as Kesava, meaning it was “impossible to avoid” Kesava.
A few days before the slashing, Karrtik’s parents were due to visit him. The visit was particularly special to him as only two sessions are permitted a month and either parent usually visited him, but this time they were coming together.
Mr Wee claimed that Kesava disturbed Karrtik’s session with his parents three times – “leering” at them through a window at one point.
Karrtik later claimed that he spoke to Kesava about the incident and asked him not to disturb the next visit, but Kesava allegedly replied that he would do as he pleases. Mr Wee said this was the proverbial last straw for Karrtik.
He said that Karrtik “truly wishes to refrain from crime as he wants to make up for lost time with his parents once he is released”.
However, the confined prison environment has made it difficult for Karrtik to avoid Kesava, said Mr Wee.
While Kesava will suffer a scar, “there is nothing to suggest that this would affect him in an exceptional manner”, such as if he was a face model, said the lawyer.
For voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a weapon, he could either have been jailed for life, or for up to 15 years with caning and a possible fine.