Man fractures skull, dies 10 days after he was allegedly pushed down stairs near Orchard mall

Aqil Hamzah
The Straits Times
April 7, 2023

A 34-year-old man died on Wednesday after fracturing his skull in a fall down a flight of stairs on March 26 when he was allegedly pushed by another man.

Mr Thevandran Shanmugam had fallen backwards down the stairs outside Concorde Shopping Mall in Orchard Road at about 6.30am, after allegedly being pushed in the chest by Muhammed Azfary Abdul Kaha, 27.

He sustained multiple fractures to the skull and was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

He was cremated at Mandai Crematorium on Friday evening.

Azfary was charged with voluntarily causing grievous hurt the day after the incident.

It was not mentioned in court documents if the two men knew each other before the incident.

A photo of Mr Thevandran lying next to a stairwell with a pool of blood near his head circulated on WhatsApp this week.

The photo was allegedly taken outside popular nightspot Club Rumours at Concorde Shopping Mall, which houses several bars and nightclubs.

However, the nightclub on Friday refuted claims that Mr Thevandran visited its premises on the morning that he was attacked. “He was at a bar located in the same building and the incident happened after hours,” it said in a social media post.

Urging people not to speculate about the incident, Club Rumours extended its condolences to Mr Thevandran’s family and said it was “extremely sad and sorry for their loss”.

If convicted, Azfary could be jailed for up to 10 years, as well as caned or fined.

According to court documents, Azfary allegedly committed the offence while under a remission order after being jailed for other offences. If convicted, he can face an additional jail term of up to 178 days.

A remission order is issued to allow an inmate to spend a portion of his sentence outside of jail.