Rengasamy Karalmarx, a 30-year-old Indian national migrant worker, pleaded guilty on 23 December to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.

He had punched another fellow dormitory resident in the face and bit his finger after drinking three cans of beer, resulting in the victim’s finger fracture.

The two then grappled with each other on the ground and bit each other’s thighs before the other residents at the dormitory stepped in to stop the fight.

What happened?

The incident happened at the Sembawang dormitory at 51 Cochrane Lodge 1 on 4 August when the 35-year-old victim, Mr Krishnan Karthikeyan, was emptying his water bottle from the third floor.

The water then splashed onto Rengasamy one floor down, and he then went up to the third floor to confront Krishnan.

The two then got into an argument but didn’t fight, yet.

On 5 September, Rengasamy drank 3 cans of beer outside his room and got drunk, and he then felt water dripping onto him from the third floor – he then recalled the incident from the last month and went up to confront Krishnan.

Krishnan was talking to his family on the phone when Rengasamy then punched him int the nose and shoved him onto the floor.

he then threw several punches on him and bit his ring finger, resulting in blood spurting out of his wounds.

The two then bit each other on the thighs while they were on the ground as Rengasamy continued to throw punches at Krishnan, and the other residents then came to separate the two men.

Krishnan was then conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and a police report was made, he received a 14-day hospital leave following a fracture that he suffered on his finger sustained from the fight, as well as a minor head injury and a human bite wound.

His medical bills amounted to about $3,880 and were paid for by his employer.