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A 28-year-old woman swung a hammer at her 53-year-old father, striking him multiple times in the head, after she found out that he had been drinking beer at home.

Father sleeping on sofa

At around 6:30am on Jan. 6, 2020, Kshivadarrshini Karunanethi was awoken by the sound of cans falling onto the floor outside her room, The Straits Times reported.

She got out of bed to investigate and found her father sleeping on the sofa in the living room where there were several cans of beer.

The man had been drinking.

Told father not to drink as he will wet himself

This infuriated Kshivadarrshini.

She had previously told her father not to drink alcohol at home as he has a tendency to soil himself when intoxicated, leaving the women in the household to clean up after him.

Kshivadarrshini lives together with her father, mother and younger sister, and she did not want the other two women to have to go clean up after their father again.

Her mother had left for work that morning and her sister was sleeping in her own room.

Flew into a rage

After witnessing the scene in the living room, Kshivadarrshini went into the kitchen and took from a drawer a hammer with a wooden handle and a metal head measuring 34cm and weighing around 700g.

She walked back into the living room, headed straight for her still-sleeping father, and swung the hammer at him, striking his head three to four times in a fit of rage, according to court documents.

The pain from the blows caused her father to wake up and left his head bleeding.

Called the police and turned herself in

When Kshivadarrshini noticed how much her father was bleeding, she called the police and turned herself in, telling them that she had smashed her father’s head with a hammer and that he was bleeding but conscious, ST reported.

She was arrested while her father was conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital's emergency department.

He was subsequently admitted for observation after a doctor examined him and found a 4cm cut injury, as well as a fracture in his right skull.

He was prescribed antibiotics and painkillers and discharged three days later on Jan. 9, 2020.

Pleaded guilty on Jan. 27, 2023

Kshivadarrshini was charged with voluntarily causing hurt and pleaded guilty to the charge when she appeared in court on Jan. 27, 2023.

Her lawyer and the prosecution had each submitted psychiatric reports, both noting that the case was an exceptional one, and the former said the psychiatric report highlighted a link between Kshivadarrshini’s state of mind and her actions, ST reported.

To be sentenced Apr. 5, 2023

District Judge Eugene Teo called for a mandatory treatment order suitability report for Kshivadarrshini, who was looking for employment after completing her studies at the Institute of Technical Education.

A mandatory treatment order is a type of community-based sentence doled out to offenders who are suffering from certain treatable psychiatric conditions at the time of the offence.

They are required to undergo psychiatric treatment at a psychiatric institution, such as the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), for up to 36 months instead of paying a fine and/ or serving jail time.

In this scenario, the offence for voluntarily causing hurt would carry up to three years jail, up to S$5,000 fine, or both.

Kshivadarrshini is scheduled to return to court on Apr. 5 for sentencing.

Top image by Matthias Ang