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SINGAPORE – The only woman involved in a high-profile fight in Orchard Towers that resulted in the death of a man was jailed for five months on Friday (October 9).
Despite initially indicating that she would demand a trial, 24-year-old Natalie Siow Yu Zhen said through her attorney Amarick Singh Gill that she will accept the plea offer from the prosecution.
She was originally charged with murder, but later the charge was reduced to assault.
Siow was one of seven initially charged in the fatal incident at Orchard Towers. The fight resulted in the death of Satheesh Noel Gobidass, 31, in the early morning hours of July 2 last year.
Siow, a part-time waitress, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of being in the company of 29-year-old Tan Sen Yang, who had a folding Karambit knife in his possession and causing harm to Satheesh by kicking and hitting him along with Tan Sen Yang, Joel Tan Yun Sheng, 27, and Ang Da Yuan, 27.
One count of disorderly conduct, running back and forth near the Naughty Girl Club main entrance, in an attempt to kick and shove club patrons and also flip a table towards one of the patrons, was having consider the sentence.
Violent fighting in the early hours at Orchard Towers
The court heard that Joel and Ang headed to a nightclub in the Chinatown area with the intention of drinking beer there around midnight on July 2 last year. Siow met the two men around 1 a.m.
At around 2 a.m., the trio and other friends headed to a club in the Orchard area before heading to another club within the area, where they meet Tan Sen Yang. Joel had dated Tan three times before that day. By then, the group had grown to about 10 people.
As the club they were in was about to close, Joel suggested that the group go to the Naughty Girl Club on level two of Orchard Towers. There, Joel ordered two towers of beer and drank again. Siow then played a drinking game with Tan, in which the loser would have to drink alcohol.
When Tan lost two rounds, Siow taunted him for not being able to drink, prompting the man to pull a closed Karambit knife from his pocket and slam it against the table. Joel stepped in and told Tan to keep the knife. He also warned Siow not to offend Tan.
At approximately 6:20 a.m., the group finished their beer and decided to leave. As they left, they encountered another group of five people. Tan traded vulgarities with this group, and the two groups also traded secret society slogans. When the confrontation turned heated, Naughty Girl Club security agents intervened.
During the dispute, Tan waved his Karambit knife above his head and threw it at those who congregated at the club entrance, including Satheesh. He slashed a security officer on his finger and another man in the face.
Siow saw the fight and decided to join in by jumping on people and knocking a table to the ground. She had to be restrained by others.
After someone yelled “police”, Tan’s group went downstairs. Before they could leave the building, Satheesh confronted Ang, prompting the latter to push him away. In return, Satheesh pushed him hard against the shutters of a closed room.
A fight ensued, with Tan swinging his sword at Satheesh’s lower jaw and neck. The others joined in, with Siow trying to kick and swing her arms at him. She was contained as she aimed a kick at Satheesh. Ang managed to hit Satheesh in the face before he was restrained.
The group then fled, leaving Satheetsh to walk towards the entrance to Orchard Towers before collapsing face to face.
A security officer who responded to the screams saw Satheesh collapse and chased Tan’s group, who had fled in different directions.
Siow, who realized she had left a shoe behind, returned to Orchard Towers to retrieve it as she felt the shoe was expensive. He walked past Satheesh, grabbed his slipper, and left.
Satheesh was attended by passersby, who also called for the ambulance. He died from his injuries and was certified dead at 7.25 am. An autopsy report indicated that he had numerous stab wounds and incisions, and it was certified that the cause of death was a stab in the neck.
