SINGAPORE: Even though they had broken up, a man continued to harbour feelings for his ex-girlfriend and went to her workplace hoping to see her.
However, when he saw the woman with another man, he grew angry and jealous, and cursed at her before snatching her handphone to check it.
Kalidasan Panneer Selvam, a 31-year-old Singaporean, was fined S$800 (US$593) by a district court on Thursday (Jun 13) for one count of using criminal force on his ex-girlfriend.
A second charge for accessing her mobile phone’s photo albums and chat logs without authorisation was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Kalidasan, a cable technician, was in a relationship with the victim, 38, until they broke up in May 2022.
On Jun 6, 2022, he rode his motorcycle to the woman’s office in the hopes of meeting her.
He instead saw his ex-girlfriend getting into a car driven by a 36-year-old man, who was her friend.
Kalidasan knocked on the car window and his ex-girlfriend alighted. He then questioned her about the other man.
When told he was a friend, Kalidasan got angry and jealous, and began shouting at her, calling her various slurs and spitting on the floor.
He snatched the woman’s phone from her hand and ran to a nearby building to read her messages and check her photos to see if she was in a relationship with the other man.
Kalidasan returned a few minutes later and continued shouting at her. The woman asked for her phone back and the pair began tussling over the device.
However, Kalidasan did not let go of the phone and instead rode home with it.
The woman’s friend called the police, saying “there was a guy harassing a girl and laying hands on her”.
Later that night, Kalidasan returned the undamaged phone via his ex-girlfriend’s friend, after an investigation officer called him and asked that he do so.
The prosecutor asked for a fine and left the quantum to the court. The defence suggested a fine of S$800.
The judge agreed with the prosecution that a fine would be appropriate, given his guilty plea and the fact that it was his first offence.
For using criminal force, Kalidasan could have been fined up S$1,500, jailed up to three months, or both.