Man, 47, visiting S'pore, tied his sister up & stole gold jewellery & nearly S$40,000, gets 5 years' jail & caning

A 47-year-old man, who came to Singapore in search of work, was sentenced to five years' jail and six strokes of the cane after assaulting and robbing his younger sister of nearly S$40,000, and all her gold jewellery.

The accused, Krishnakumar Thurairaj, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and one charge of robbery in court on Oct. 29, according to Shin Min Daily News

An additional charge of criminal intimidation was taken into consideration during sentencing.

Lived with his sister

Shin Min reported that the accused arrived in Singapore on May 6, 2023, intending to find work locally.

He stayed with his sister at her house, and she also lent him S$2,500 for his expenses.

However, about two months later, on Jul. 23, 2023, the accused had an argument with his sister as he had yet to find a job.

He insisted on staying in Singapore to continue his job search, but his sister wanted him to return to India.

Tied her up and threatened her with a knife

Four days later, on Jul. 27, 2023, the accused returned home at around 10:30am after getting drunk, and another fight between him and his sister broke out, Shin Min reported.

Following the argument, his sister went to take a shower, only to see someone hiding near the computer.

It turned out to be the accused, and he proceeded to strike her on the head four times using a pot before chasing her into her room, where he restrained her using cable ties and nylon rope.

He bound her hands and feet, and tied her arms to the bed frame, preventing her from sitting up.

His sister started to cry and shout, saying that she would call the police, and this prompted the accused to tape her mouth shut.

The accused then took a knife from the kitchen, pointed it at his sister and threatened to harm her if she made any more noise.

He also forced her to reveal her phone password and bank account personal identification number (PIN), to which she complied out of fear.

The accused then proceeded to transfer a total of S$38,999 out of his sister's bank account.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the accused also stole several pieces of his sister's jewellery, including two gold-coloured bangles worth S$1,400, two pairs of gold-coloured earrings worth S$500 and S$240 respectively, and another piece of jewellery worth S$500.

During the incident, he also threatened his sister in Tamil, saying: "I will kill you and your children at 12am, put all of you in a plastic bag in a place where no one knows and go to India."

Arrested on the same day

According to Shin Min, the accused then left the room, leaving his sister, who was still tied up, inside until her six-year-old son returned from school.

The accused then taped her mouth shut again, before locking the door and leaving her in the room.

However, the woman eventually managed to untie herself and she proceeded to call the police.

Upon arriving, the police arrested the accused, who had just stepped out of the shower.

Police later recovered the gold jewellery that was stolen, but the money that was transferred out of the sister's account could not be retrieved.

Taken to hospital

The woman was taken to the hospital at around 4:14pm the same day.

Upon examination, it was found that there was a large area of swelling on the right side of her forehead, a 2cm laceration on the top of her head, and ligature marks on her wrists and ankles.

A brain scan showed bilateral frontal scalp hematomas, which is a more serious type of bruising.

She was admitted to the hospital and discharged the following day, and was also given 14 days of hospitalisation leave.

Went home only to find more jewellery had been stolen

According to Shin Min, upon returning home, she discovered that 22 pieces of gold jewellery were missing from her suitcase.

Investigations revealed that the sister had previously told the accused that she stored her gold jewellery in a suitcase in the closet, and the two had even gone shopping together to buy a safe to store the jewellery.

Court documents revealed that from Jun. 1 and Jul. 24, 2023, the accused stole his sister's gold jewellery and pawned it five times at pawn shops in Bukit Batok and Boon Lay to get cash, which he then wired to India to pay off debts.

Those pieces of jewellery had a total value of S$16,090.

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