A seemingly ordinary taxi ride took a tragic turn, resulting in the untimely demise of Mr. Manjunatha Louis Ravi. Following an argument with a fellow passenger, Sakthivel Sivasurian, this altercation led to a series of events that ultimately ended in a courtroom trial.
33-year-old Sakthivel was eventually convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt, and will return to court next month for his sentencing, according to The Straits Times.
The Background
The incident in question occurred on the night of July 18, 2020, when Mr. Manjunatha, another woman, Sakthivel, and Sakthivel’s wife were traveling in a taxi to a HDB block in Gangsa Road.
A dispute between Mr. Manjunatha and Sakthivel escalated, culminating in a physical altercation after they exited the vehicle.
During this altercation, Mr. Manjunatha fell and hit his head on the ground, rendering him unable to rise on his own. An eyewitness promptly dialed 995, and Mr. Manjunatha was rushed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
The Medical Assessment
Upon examination, a scan revealed that Mr. Manjunatha had bleeding on the surface of his brain, brain swelling, and signs of brain damage.
His prognosis was grim, as determined after consultations with neurosurgeons. Mr. Manjunatha was placed in the intensive care unit, and his father flew to Singapore to be by his side on July 23, 2020.
Tragically, despite the medical efforts, he did not recover and passed away on the same day.
An autopsy on Mr. Manjunatha’s body revealed a small crack in the bone above his left eye and a displacement in his spine. These findings were significant in the legal proceedings that followed.
The Legal Battle
The subsequent court trial focused on one critical question: Did Sakthivel’s actions lead directly to Mr. Manjunatha’s death, or was it solely a result of the initial fall?
The defense argued that the fall itself was not fatal and that it was Sakthivel’s attempts to lift Mr. Manjunatha, ultimately dropping him, that exacerbated his injuries and caused his death.
District Judge James Elisha Lee carefully reviewed the evidence presented by both sides. He acknowledged the defense’s position that Mr. Manjunatha had been dropped twice during the efforts to lift him.
He also accepted the evidence indicating that Sakthivel had moved Mr. Manjunatha to a grassy area before the ambulance arrived.
Judge Lee recognized that there was reasonable doubt as to whether Mr. Manjunatha would have died from the initial fall alone had he not been dropped and manhandled.
However, he concluded that the circumstances leading to the dropping and manhandling were a direct result of the fall itself.
Had Mr. Manjunatha not sustained an injury from the fall and had he been able to get up on his own, these actions would not have occurred.
In the end, Judge Lee’s verdict held that while the fall and subsequent actions contributed to Mr. Manjunatha’s death, it was the fall that set the tragic chain of events in motion.
Additional Evidence
Sakthivel’s defense included the assertion that Mr. Manjunatha, after being hit, took several steps backward and fell on uneven ground.
To support this claim, Sakthivel submitted a Google Street View image from October 2019, suggesting that a hole was present at the site of the incident.
Judge Lee, however, found none of the eyewitnesses’ testimonies corroborating that Mr. Manjunatha lost his footing due to uneven ground.
Video footage clearly indicated a swift fall after being hit by Sakthivel. Judge Lee emphasized that even if the victim had fallen into a hole, it would still have been attributable to the hit by the accused.
The Verdict
Sakthivel was ultimately convicted of one charge of voluntarily causing hurt, which resulted in grievous harm. The relationship between Sakthivel and Mr. Manjunatha was not disclosed in court documents.
In a surprising turn of events, following the verdict, Sakthivel pleaded guilty to a separate charge of providing false information to a public servant while out on bail.
He was found to have violated his court-imposed bail curfew hours at a nightclub, where he falsely claimed to be at home at the time. Sakthivel’s sentencing will take place in November.