Man gets 3 years' jail for pushing drunk stranger, who later drowned, into S'pore River

In a drunken altercation at Clarke Quay one night, 22-year-old Legha Pawan pushed a stranger into the Singapore River and fled.

The victim, 33-year-old Jasbir Singh, was later found drowned.

Legha, then a student at the Birmingham Academy in Singapore, was sentenced to 35 months' jail on Jul. 16, 2025.

He pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to Singh. The hurt caused was grievous hurt in the form of death.

Both were intoxicated

The incident took place on the evening of Jun. 30, 2024.

Legha and a group of friends had been drinking beer and chatting on the steps at the Singapore River.

But sometime before 10pm, an argument broke out.

Legha, who had drunk about two cans of "Anchor Strong" beer and was intoxicated, angrily pulled one of the women's hair.

He was then pulled away from the group to prevent the conflict from escalating.

At around 10:10pm, Singh approached the group while walking along the riverbank.

He appeared very intoxicated and was hugging a lamppost.

Singh, an Indian national who was working as a construction worker in Singapore, had begun drinking heavily several months prior.

His mother had passed away recently, the court heard.

The altercation

At around 10:13pm, Legha approached Singh alone.

This drew the attention of a nearby couple, who had seen the student's display of violence earlier.

Initially, Legha spoke quietly to Singh and they did not make physical contact.

Singh was standing very close to the edge of the riverbank, and faced Legha with his back to the river.

All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, Legha pushed Singh once in the chest with both hands.

Singh fell backwards off the edge of the riverbank, rolled down the steps, and fell into the Singapore River.

Legha then fled.

Having observed the two men's interaction, the couple immediately shouted for help.

When Singh did not re-surface, they called the police: "A drunk man pushed another drunk man into the river and he is running away."

Rescue effort

At around 10:35pm, a four-man diving team comprising Disaster Assistance Rescue Team (DART) officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was dispatched to the scene.

They managed to recover Singh's body at around 2am the next morning.

He was pronounced dead at scene.

An autopsy later found multiple injuries including lacerations and abrasions on Singh's body — possibly from falling down the steps.

His lungs were also filled with water, indicating that he had drowned.

Meanwhile, Legha, who had run away and planned to take the train back to his flat, removed his collared shirt and discarded it.

Upon reaching home, he also asked his housemate to pass him his backpack and left the area.

He'd hoped to avoid police detection and arrest.

But upon returning to the flat on Jul. 1, 2024 at 7:55am, he was promptly arrested.

He later claimed that Singh had hurled vulgarities at his mother in Hindi, but no objective evidence could be found to support this.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jheong Siew Yin further pointed out that either way, Legha's response was "disproportionate and unwarranted".

She added that Legha would have known that Singh was intoxicated and unable to defend himself.

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