Man angry at ex-girlfriend for not waiting for him at gym, abducts her and leads police in car chase

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
May 25, 2023

A tiff between a man and his former girlfriend turned into a violent rampage when he stabbed her male friend before abducting her, sparking an islandwide police manhunt.

Mohamed Shabiq Mohamed Anwar, 22, was caught after he was later seen stabbing the woman.

On Thursday, he was sentenced to three years’ jail, six strokes of the cane and a fine of $1,000.

Shabiq, who had led the police in a car chase and was later found to be driving without a licence, among other traffic offences, was also disqualified from obtaining all classes of driving licences for three years from his release date.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges including to two counts of assault and one count of abduction and multiple traffic offences.

The names of the assault victims were redacted from court documents.

On July 31, 2022, Shabiq had an argument with the 21-year-old woman when he became angry that she had gone home instead of waiting for him while he finished his gym workout.

Shabiq, who had previously threatened to kill his former girlfriend, went to her home to confront her.

Fearing for her safety, the woman told a 21-year-old male friend about what happened. She then made arrangements for her friend to meet her after work over the next few days.

On Aug 2, 2022, the friend met her near her workplace at around 8.20pm. They then went to a carpark near Block 213, Serangoon Avenue 4, where his car was parked.

They were not aware that Shabiq was waiting for them nearby. Shabiq walked towards the pair and confronted the woman about their earlier argument.

Shabiq then punched her in the head, causing her to fall to the ground. Seeing this, her friend stepped in, and the two men got into a scuffle.

Shabiq took out a pair of scissors and used it to stab the other man repeatedly, including in his head, chest and shoulders.

He stopped only when the man pinned him down. When he let him go, Shabiq grabbed his former girlfriend, wrapped an arm around her neck and pointed the scissors at her.

He dragged the woman into a car that he had rented and drove away.

The police were soon alerted, and her friend was taken by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He was given five days of hospitalisation leave.

Police later spotted the rented car in Woodlands. Officers in a police car pulled up next to it at a traffic junction between Woodlands Avenue 6 and Woodlands Avenue 7 and indicated that Shabiq should stop the vehicle.

Instead of complying, Shabiq sped off, leading the officers to pursue him in their vehicle. He later beat a red light and caused a traffic accident with two stationary vehicles.

The accident left all three vehicles with damage totalling more than $12,600.

Shabiq continued driving before he abandoned the car in Northshore Drive in Punggol. He and the woman got out and walked to Punggol Avenue 17.

There, they got into the back of a parked lorry after the woman suggested that they have a rest.

A group of police officers patrolling in the vicinity spotted the pair at around 12.30am on Aug 3, 2022. One of them saw Shabiq stabbing the woman with a pair of scissors and drew his gun.

Shabiq surrendered soon after. An ambulance took the woman, who had a gaping wound on her neck and other injuries, to Sengkang General Hospital. She was later given 23 days of medical leave.

During investigations, police discovered that Shabiq did not have a valid driving licence when he went behind the wheel on 58 occasions between May 16 and Aug 2, 2022.

He had also posed as another man to rent multiple vehicles.

The Straits Times

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