Man assaulted cleaner at Circuit Road bin centre, then called police saying he got beaten up

Samuel Devaraj
The Straits Times
Apr 5, 2023

A cleaner and a supervisor were washing the public toilets at a hawker centre when they spotted a man sitting nearby whom they suspected was collecting money from people using the bathrooms.

The supervisor approached the man – Mohdmed Kassiah P. N. Sha – and told him to leave. He walked away, but minutes later, accosted the cleaner at a rubbish bin centre.

Kassiah then verbally and physically assaulted cleaner Ahammed Siyam, 20, and punched him in his chest.

On Wednesday, Kassiah, 62, was sentenced to one month’s jail after he pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

A charge under the Protection from Harassment Act was taken into consideration during his sentencing.

State prosecuting officer (SPO) Lim Yeow Leong said Marine Parade Town Council had engaged NRT Trading and Engineering, Ahammed’s employer, to cleaning the estate.

On March 9, at about 11.15am, Mr Ahammed was washing the toilets at Block 89 Circuit Road, which is in the MacPherson estate.

With him was his father, Mr Babul Abdul Aziz, 48, who was supervising the duties.

While cleaning the toilets, the Bangladeshi nationals spotted Kassiah. The court heard that Mr Ahammed did not retaliate after Kassiah punched him.

The cleaner instead called his father for help.

But Kassiah then contacted police. He claimed that two people had beaten him up at Block 88 Circuit Road and fled the scene. He also asked for an ambulance.

When police officers interviewed Kassiah, he claimed Mr Ahammed and another Bangladeshi man had assaulted him for no reason. But the officers noticed that Kassiah was reeking of alcohol.

Said the prosecutor: “The accused could not provide any material facts of the alleged assault and became incoherent in his speech. His allegation of assault was also not substantiated.”

A paramedic attended to Kassiah, who complained of stomach pain and said he had too much drink earlier. But he refused to go to the hospital in an ambulance.

Meanwhile, Mr Ahammed sought medical treatment at Geylang Polyclinic and was diagnosed with mild chest wall contusion. He was given one day of medical leave.

Kassiah was arrested on March 11.

MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling had highlighted the incident in a video posted on Instagram.

She said workers who are helping to serve MacPherson deserve to be respected.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tin Pei Ling (@tinpeiling)

“If there are things that we need to improve, let us know. But to attack the workers, knowing that they are very worried about getting into trouble and will try to stay away from attention at all cost – I think that’s not right.

“Hopefully, we can all work together to create a kinder society and prevent such incidents from happening again,” she said.

On Wednesday, SPO Lim argued for Kassiah to be given between four and five weeks’ jail.

He said the assault was an intolerable act, and highlighted Kassiah’s criminal record, which includes several offences involving the abuse of public servants.

“Public service workers provide larger community with essential services and have every right to work in a safe and secure environment,” he said.