Man in Bukit Batok nursing home, 68, beats roommate, 80, twice in a year & sets mattress on fire

A 68-year-old man in a nursing home attacked his 80-year-old roommate twice in a year and also set his mattress on fire after being unhappy with the food given to him.

Jahalal Bin Ali later pleaded guilty to two charges of voluntarily causing hurt and one count of mischief by fire.

He was sentenced to 15 weeks in jail on Dec. 16.

Jahalal was also given an additional 49 days in jail for breaching a remission order for past offences, which required him to avoid reoffending and comply with specific rules from Jan. 9, 2023, to Jun. 18, 2025.

Another two charges over voluntarily causing hurt and two charges for committing a rash act were taken into consideration at sentencing.

Attacked roommate

Court documents stated that Jahalal shared a room with the victim at Bukit Batok Home for the Aged, and was unhappy over some noise the latter made at night.

On Mar. 5, 2024, a care worker in the home found him punching and kicking the victim in the head over the issue.

The victim was taken to the hospital and did not suffer any significant injuries.

A few months later on Nov. 18, 2024, Jahalal again attacked the victim when the latter asked him to leave the hall repeatedly.

He slapped and punched the victim, and also stepped on the victim’s chest while he was on the ground.

The victim subsequently suffered injuries to his left elbow and had to wear an arm sling for his left elbow and shoulder.

Set mattress on fire

Jahalal's other offences include setting a mattress on fire on Aug. 15, 2025.

Court documents said he was unhappy with the food served to him and went back to his room to throw down a mattress from the second floor.

He then went to the first floor and set fire to the mattress with a lighter.

A staff member extinguished the fire and called the police.

Jahalal was arrested and remanded for one day.

A little over a month later on Sep. 26, Jahalal again offended by slapping a female resident on her face twice, throwing a chair at a male staff member, and hitting him with it.

He was arrested and had been in remand since.

Apologised during court hearing

According to The Straits Times, Jahalal, appeared in court via video link and told the judge through an interpreter: “I apologise for my offence and I hope Your Honour can send me back to the (home) as soon as possible.”

The prosecutor noted the frequency of his offending behaviour and sought an imprisonment term of 14 to 17 weeks for his offences, and an additional 49 to 63 days.

He said that Jahalal had demonstrated a "consistent pattern of antisocial and aggressive behaviour" over the course of over two years while living in the home.

“It should be strongly impressed upon the accused that he cannot continue to behave in such a manner should he continue living in a home," he said.

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