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SINGAPORE: Police on Monday (October 5) answered questions about his alleged lack of action in relation to a case of repeated harassment by a man, which led to him being beaten and later killed.
The two men involved in the assault, Ryan Xavier Tay Seet Choong, 24, and his stepfather Lawrence Lim Peck Beng, 59, were sentenced Tuesday to four years and eight months in jail, respectively.
The victim, Shawn Ignatius Rodrigues, 26, suffered fractures and died of traumatic asphyxia after the 20-minute assault.
Tay and Lim had contested their respective charges and claimed that the victim had persistently harassed them, and said they had made 59 police reports of harassment to no avail.
LEE: Man and his stepfather go to jail for beating the alleged ‘stalker’ to death and helping in the assault, respectively
After the case made the news, the public asked what the police had done in relation to the 59 complaints made.
In response to the CNA’s questions, the police said Monday night that they wanted to clarify their response to the reports submitted.
They confirmed that Tay and his family had filed more than 50 complaints against the victim between February 2015 and July 2016.
Most of these were in the form of calls to 999, made whenever Mr. Rodrigues appeared outside his Yishun apartment.
“In most of these cases, Mr. Rodrigues would knock on the door and ask to speak to Tay,” police said. “There was no evidence to show that Mr. Rodrigues made threats, damaged property or assaulted Tay, members or his family.”
They added that Tay’s mother had approached her Member of Parliament for help over an incident in which Rodrigues allegedly pulled on her shoulder and arm and asked where Tay was.
The MP had made representations to the police on his behalf, and the police later informed him that they were investigating the incident, his statement said.
“In cases where the police encountered Mr. Rodrigues in the neighborhood, he was advised not to harass Tay and his family. In fact, when resources allowed, the police stayed in the neighborhood and carried out patrols in case that (he) returned, “they said further.
Police also said they advised Tay’s family to file a complaint with a magistrate if they wished to pursue the matter, and said Tay’s mother visited the relevant registry in May 2015 “in order to file a warrant request. protection on behalf of Tay, but ultimately did not. “
In January 2016, following his advice, Tay’s family finally filed a magistrate’s complaint against Rodrigues, police said.
“As a result of the magistrate’s complaint, the parties had been attending the mediation since February 2016,” they added.
During this period, Mr. Rodrigues also attended psychological counseling with his private psychotherapist, and was subsequently referred to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for further evaluation. He was scheduled to follow up with the IMH Adult Neurodevelopment Clinic when the incident occurred. “
At approximately 7.40 pm on July 9, 2016, Rodrigues went to Tay and Lim’s apartment, and Tay chased the victim, who ran up the stairs.
When Lim caught up with him, the two criminals pinned Rodrigues to the ground and Tay hit her head multiple times and pushed her hard to the ground, police said.
When the police arrived, they found the victim immobile on the ground and he was pronounced dead at the scene, with the cause of death determined as traumatic asphyxia with head injury.
