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SINGAPORE – A general manager decided to confine three wandering construction workers within his company premises after they disobeyed safe distance regulations during the breaker period.
Shaun Pang Tong Heng first confined the three Indian nationals for three days after calling them “troublemakers.” When two of the victims were filmed leaving the company premises during the breaker period, Pang confined the trio for a further 39 days.
All three had beds, fans and a water cooler, meals and WiFi. They also had access to a bathroom and their cell phones.
Authorities had banned the movement of workers in and out of dormitories effective April 21 amid a surge in cases there.
Pang, CEO of Ad-Meth Mech Field, a company that services industrial equipment, was fined $ 9,000 on Thursday (September 17).
The 41-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to one count of wrongfully confining 23-year-old Pandiyan Jayakanthan, 24-year-old Ganesan Pandi, and 39-year-old Muthuraj Thangaraj for 39 days in the company’s factory refurbished dormitory at 75 Tuas South Street 5.
Three counts of improperly confining the trio for a period of three days were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Pandiyan and Ganesan had been eliminated. They were both construction workers before being laid off. Muthuraj was a construction supervisor until he was involved in a police investigation for a separate matter and was placed on suspension from work.
On May 12 this year, more than a month after Singapore’s partial lockdown period, Pang was informed that Pandiyan and Ganesan were molesting another worker. Muthuraj was being investigated by the police for another matter.
Later, Pang decided that the three men were rioters who should be locked in a closed area at the rear of the company premises. The area was a main room with an attached bathroom.
From May 12-15, the trio were confined until they complained about the heat and mosquitoes. Pang then asked them to move to another room on the first floor, which was not locked. This room had three beds and air conditioning.
On May 18, Pang was shown a video clip showing Pandiyan and Ganesan leaving the company without permission. Thinking that the two men had no regrets, Pang confined them and Muthuraj to the original room. He tasked an employee with locking up the trio in the area.
Pang told them that he would call the police if they did not follow his instructions.
The trio returned to the original room on May 19 at approximately 7:30 a.m. M. The employee who led the men at the time secured the metal fence surrounding the area with a padlock, restricting their movement.
Between May 19 and June 26, the trio were confined to the room. They were provided with food and had access to their mobile phones, Wi-Fi connection and the bathroom.
One of the victims complained to the Ministry of Labor (MOM) on June 25 using her mobile phone. The next day, MOM dispatched a group of officers to the dormitory and found the trio to be confined. Officers told Pang to release the victims immediately and he obeyed. A MOM officer filed a police report on June 29.
Later, Pang admitted that he should have called the police to handle the matter that his workers failed to comply with COVID-19 measures, rather than taking matters into his own hands.
To mitigate Pang, his attorney Md Noor E Adnaan said the trio had been caught drinking at the venue, which was not allowed. They were then confined for three days.
After their release, two of them left the dormitory at night climbing a wall and bought alcohol. The trio were later found in the room smelling of alcohol. By then, the country was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and strict rules were imposed on dormitory operators, the lawyer said.
There was great concern about the spread of the virus inside the bedrooms, so Pang was faced with a difficult situation. After the two workers were raped on May 18, Pang contacted MOM by email on May 19. It informed MOM that the company could not be sure of the movements and behavior of the two workers while they were out of the bedroom and was concerned that they could pose a risk of infection to other workers. There was a nearby site that was a COVID-19 cluster, the attorney said.
