Man gets 6 years & 10 months jail, caning for causing death of older man over drug dispute in Geylang

A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to six years and 10 months imprisonment for pushing and causing the death of a 67-year-old man who was relying on a cane.

Both men were locked in a dispute over drugs, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Zubir Bin Mohamed faced 13 charges in court on Apr. 24, including for intentionally causing bodily harm, intentional assault and theft.

He pleaded guilty to four counts.

Alongside his jail term, he also faces 12 strokes of the cane.

Incident

Shin Min reported that the incident occurred on Aug. 3, 2024 at a back alley in 669 Geylang Road.

There, Zubir and his wife approached a drug dealer, Chen Junyu (transliterated) and asked for free "medicine", consisting of a number of prohibited drugs including cough syrup, armodafinil and sleeping pills.

He lied to Chen that it was his and his wife's birthday, but his request was refused.

Instead, Zubir turned to 67-year-old Swaraj, who was using a cane, with the same request.

The older man gave Zubir S$20 to buy the drugs. He then discussed the quality of the sleeping pills with Zubir and showed him the pills.

A short while later, Swaraj told Chen some of the pills had disappeared after Zubir touched his pocket and suspected he had taken them.

Fight

When he confronted Zubir, the latter denied the allegations and flew into a rage, hurling insults at the elder man.

Zubir pushed Swaraj, causing him to fall on the ground. He also directed punches at the elderly man.

When the victim tried to use his cane to stand up, Zubir attempted to snatch the cane away and pushed him down again.

Zubir's wife and Chen tried to break the fight up by pulling him away, but both men continued arguing and fighting.

At one point, Zubir pushed the victim down on the ground, causing him to hit his head on the ground, before raining punches on him.

He also picked up the broken cane and threw it at the older man.

Chen intervened and helped the older man to a chair. At this point, Swaraj reportedly had blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

Zubir briefly left the scene, but returned shortly after to restart the fight.

He pushed the victim to the ground one last time, causing him to hit the back of his head on the ground again and become unable to get up.

When Chen returned to the alley, the elderly man was foaming at the mouth and bleeding from his ears and nose.

Police arrived at the scene at about 2:55pm and Swaraj was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Top images via Canva & Shin Min