Man jailed for slapping churchgoers after not being allowed to take free bible

SINGAPORE: A 33-year-old man who had previously taken free bibles from a church felt aggrieved when he was stopped from taking another one.

On his way out, he assaulted five congregants, causing one woman to bleed from her nose.

Wee Soon Ming, a 33-year-old Malaysian and Singapore permanent resident, was sentenced to five weeks' jail on Monday (Jun 22).

He pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing hurt, with another four charges taken into consideration.

THE CASE

The court heard that Wee visited the Singapore Life Church at 144 Prinsep Street occasionally, usually on weekdays.

Several times, he took free bibles from the church. On one occasion, the pastor stopped him from taking a large quantity of bibles, but allowed him to take one or two. On this occasion, he complied.

On May 3 this year, a Sunday, Wee went to the church to take a free bible.

However, he was stopped from taking one and felt aggrieved.

Court documents detailed what he did to two of the victims.

The first was a 65-year-old woman who had gone to the church to attend the service that morning with her daughter-in-law.

Wee did not know them and was walking hastily out of the church when he passed them.

Suddenly, he slapped the woman hard on her face before slapping her daughter-in-law's head.

They did not have any confrontation, but he had assaulted them out of anger as he was not permitted to take a bible, the prosecutor said.

The 65-year-old woman bled from her nose.

A member of the public called the police about the attack and the police went down to the scene along with paramedics, who took her to the hospital.

The woman suffered tenderness over her nose and bruises on her cheek, among other things. She was given seven days' hospitalisation leave and did not want to seek compensation.

After assaulting this woman, Wee left via the main entrance and came across a 55-year-old woman, who was entering the church.

He slapped the back of her head and shoulder once out of the same anger.

The woman felt that the back of her head was sore and saw a doctor, but was told there was no cause for concern. She similarly did not wish to seek compensation from Wee.

The police identified Wee that same day and arrested him at his home.

He was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health and assessed to have mild intellectual disability, although there was no contributory link to his offending.

He retained awareness of the nature of his acts, as well as their legal and moral wrongfulness. He was of sound mind and fit to plead.

The prosecutor added that there was no evidence that his assault on the victims was religiously motivated.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Wee could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.

CNA has contacted Singapore Life Church for more information.