Teenager admits to beating up male schoolmate who stripped naked to kneel and apologise to him

SINGAPORE — Thinking that a schoolmate had caused him to get in trouble with his peers, a teenager decided to confront the boy and attacked him after the boy apologised by kneeling naked. 

The teenager, now 16, cannot be named by law because he was under 18 years old when the offences were committed.

He pleaded guilty on Monday (May 20) to a charge of voluntarily causing hurt, a charge for unlawful assembly and two charges relating to voyeurism.

Two other similar charges related to unlawful assembly and voluntarily causing hurt will be taken into consideration for sentencing on July 8, following District Judge Carol Ling's call for a report to see if the teenager is suitable for probation.

If found suitable as a sentencing option, the teenager will be allowed to continue with his daily activities while complying with conditions specified by the court for probation, which include regular reporting sessions to a probation officer, curfews and community service.

WHAT HAPPENED

On Sept 8 last year, a boy who was aged 14 then was visiting his friend outside of school when he crossed paths with the teenager, then 15. They were from the same secondary school.

The teenager got angry at seeing the boy, believing him to be the one who had caused him to get beaten up by others in the past, and proceeded to video-call an acquaintance whom he knew as "Ahkid".

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Pei Wei told the court that the teenager then confronted the younger boy and asked why he had gotten others to assault him.

Even though the younger boy denied this, the teenager punched him on the chest.

"Ahkid", who was still on the phone with the teenager, told him to hand the phone to the younger boy.

"Ahkid" then questioned the boy about the past incident and told him that he had to choose between getting "whacked" by the teenager or to "angkat paiseh", which meant apologising to the teenager.

The boy chose to apologise and was told by "Ahkid" to take off all his clothes and kneel in front of the teenager.

Out of fear, he fully undressed himself, knelt naked and apologised.

The teenager then pointed his mobile phone camera at the boy to show "Ahkid" what he was doing before proceeding to kick and punch the victim in the chest and back.

Sometime between Sept 8 and 11, the teenager sent his classmate a five-second video of this assault on messaging platform WhatsApp.

The video contained two images of the victim with one showing him fully nude with an arrow pointing towards his private parts, accompanied with the word "wahhh".

The teenager and his classmate then posted the video on social media channels Instagram and TikTok.

A police report was filed by the victim's father on the afternoon of Sept 11.

Court documents did not state how the photos were obtained or if "Ahkid" would be facing any charges.

ASSAULT OF FEMALE VICTIM

About two weeks after the police report was filed, the teenager joined a group of girls to confront his female friend, who was then 14.

One of the girls in the group believed that the female friend had flirted with her boyfriend and other boys, but the girl who was cornered denied it.

The group went on to assault her at a lift landing of a public housing block.

While the girls took turns slapping, punching and kicking the victim, the male teenager kicked her in the ankle. He also recorded the assault using a mobile phone and cheered the others on during the attack.

After 10 minutes of hitting victim, the group made her kneel and apologise to each of them by name and recorded it with a mobile phone. This was later shared among the group through Telegram.

Later that day, the victim's mother noticed the bruises on her face and body and asked what had happened. She then took her to make a police report.

All four girls involved in the assault have been charged for their roles and have since pleaded guilty to their respective charges.

Anyone guilty of being a member of an unlawful assembly could be jailed for up to seven years and caned.

If found guilty of intentionally or knowingly distributing an image or recording of another person, an offender could be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned, or receive any combination of these punishments.

Anyone convicted of recording another person's private parts could be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or receive any combination of these punishments. 

The penalty for voluntarily causing hurt is a jail term of up to three years or a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.