SINGAPORE: His estranged wife refused to let him in to see their one-year-old daughter, so he slit her throat on her doorstep.
Indian national Krishnan Karunakaran, 45, was sentenced to eight years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane on Friday (Nov 4) for attempted homicide and criminal intimidation.
His estranged wife, 38-year-old teacher Boomichelvi Ramasamy, survived the life-threatening injury which severed her jugular vein.
The couple’s relationship soured about a year after Krishnan moved to Singapore from India, where they had married in 2011.
In October 2013, Madam Boomichelvi told Krishnan to move out of her Block 244 Hougang Street 22 flat, where she lived with their one-year-old daughter and her nine-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, as well as a domestic helper.
When they met on Oct 26, Mdm Boomichelvi declined to help Krishnan extend his visa, and returned his passport to him.
He followed her to her fifth-storey flat, wanting to see his daughter, but Mdm Boomichelvi closed the door on him.
Krishnan bought a knife that night and lay in wait for her the next morning. When he spotted her in the lift, Krishnan barged in and pointed the knife at Mdm Boomichelvi’s stomach, demanding she let him see their daughter and help him to extend his visa.
When the terrified woman screamed for help, Krishnan pulled her hair and warned her not to make any noise. He led her to the flat at knifepoint, and when he shouted at the domestic helper to open the gate, Mdm Boomichelvi shouted: “Don’t open!” angering Krishnan.
He slit the woman’s throat in an ensuing struggle and shouted “Die!” before fleeing the scene.
Mdm Boomichelvi’s nine-year-old daughter, who witnessed the attack, called the police, stating: “Got one guy kill my mother (sic).” However Krishnan also called the police, saying he had stabbed his wife “accidentally” due to a “family problem”. “I was threatening her with knife and when she came near to hit me; the knife hit her neck,” he reported.
Prosecutor Mohamed Faizal called for a nine-year jail term with nine strokes of the cane, saying it is “fortuitous” that Mdm Boomichelvi survived.
However, she has to live with a scar, “a permanent reminder” of what happened. Three years on, the woman remains fearful of people coming too close to her and suffers sleepless nights, the court heard.
DPP Faizal said there is no excuse for what Krishnan did. “Even though he felt aggrieved at not being granted access to his daughter, a clear message must be sent that such scores ought to be settled by recourse to law, not recourse to force.”
Krishnan’s lawyer, Eugene Thuraisingam, who took on the case pro bono, pressed the court not to impose a jail term of more than four years.
He said Krishnan had been “driven to his wits’ end” after being kept away from his daughter for months. He had no intention to kill and only wanted to threaten his wife with the knife, Mr Thuraisingam added.
He also told the court that after the attack, Krishnan shouted “Die!” out of panic and not because he really wanted that as an outcome.
For attempted culpable homicide, Krishnan could have been jailed for up to 15 years and caned.
