An Indian-origin married man has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for a culpable homicide that was not classified as murder after his girlfriend died in January 2019 in Singapore. He was upset over his girlfriend having relationships with other men, the man punched and kicked Mallika Begum Rahamansa Abdul Rahman, 40, who died on January 17, 2019.
According to a PTI report, M Krishnan, 40, pleaded guilty on Monday. His sentence was backdated to the date of his arrest.
During his sentencing, Justice Valerie Thean noted that he had promised to be a reformed individual in 2018 in his mitigation, for another offence of abusing police officers), but he continued to abuse his wife and girlfriend. She said while his intermittent explosive disorder had contributed to his actions, alcohol had also influenced the way he behaved, as per PTI. She added, "The accused knew he was susceptible to showing his temper in socially unacceptable ways" through his past brushes with the law.
Justice Thean said that she couldn’t ignore his repeated domestic abuse against the women and sentenced him to 20 years in jail. In Singapore, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and caning, or a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine or caning.
Timeline Of M Krishnan’s Offences
In 2015, his wife caught him and Mallika drinking alcohol in the master bedroom of their marital home. This upset his wife, who hurled abuses at him, Krishnan then punched her, before grabbing the whiskey bottle. The wife was scared he would throw it towards her, she apologised and later obtained a police protection order against him.
Krishnan and Mallika continued their relationship all this while up until her death. In 2017, he punched his girlfriend “over a trivial matter”. By 2019, the abuse increased, after Mallika admitted to having sexual relations with other men, even while Krishnan was serving a prison sentence in 2018. On January 15, 2019, he kicked and slapped Mallika in the face, punched her in the ribs and kicked her in the thigh following her confession.
When Mallika pleaded with him not to leave, he grabbed her by the neck, pushed her and she hit her head on the wardrobe in the apartment they shared.
Mallika later stumbled to the kitchen and slumped in front of a cabinet. He told her to get up, but when she didn’t, he pushed her forehead, causing her to hit her head against the cabinet.
Mallika’s Death
The following day sought medical treatment, while Krishnan spent the day drinking. At night, they spoke with Mallika's sister over the phone about Mallika's relationship with another man. He was frustrated and angry, he decided to assault Maillka again. After punching her for a long time, he noticed that she was unresponsive and wasn’t breathing. He then called the Singapore Civil Defence Force at about 1:35 AM and Mallika was pronounced dead by the responders.
The autopsy revealed that she died from a head injury, with several bruises on her scalp, back of her neck, face and around her body. Several of her ribs were fractured as well.
On January 17, 2019, Krishnan surrendered himself to police. Following his arrest, Krishnan was diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder – a condition where there are frequent impulsive anger outbursts or aggression – which was found to have contributed to his offence.
However, the level of violence he inflicted on his girlfriend was "likely caused by the alcohol intoxication, adding to the intermittent explosive disorder", court documents showed as per PTI.
Another offence that was added to his mitigation, was the 2018 incident when Krishnan verbally abused and spat on police officers, he had then acknowledged that alcohol had "severely clouded my decision at the time".