Probation for teen who forced boy to drink urine

SINGAPORE — A teenager who placed a parang against a 16-year-old boy's neck, ordered him to strip naked and forced the victim to drink urine from a bottle, was sentenced to two years' probation on June 18.

As part of his sentence, the offender, who is now 18, must spend a year at the Singapore Boys' Hostel and perform 100 hours of community service.

He must also remain indoors from 10pm to 6am every day, and his mother was bonded for $5,000 to ensure his good behaviour.

The offender, who was identified in court documents as A1, cannot be named due to a gag order.

A1, who turned 18 in September 2023, pleaded guilty in April to one count each of criminal intimidation and being a member of an unlawful assembly.

His accomplices were identified in court documents as B1, B2, B3 and B4. They were the offender's friends and were between 15 and 17 years old at the time of the offences in March 2023.

The names of all six boys have been redacted from court documents.

A1 met his four friends in March 2023 and told them he wanted to beat up the victim for "harassing" a female friend.

He told them he would use her Instagram account to lure the victim to meet him.

On March 16 that year, he messaged the victim from the girl's Instagram account to meet "her" in four days' time at a public toilet in Bukit Batok for "sex".

On the day, A1 and his accomplices met at a carpark where he told B2 and B3 to urinate into a bottle.

He then hid in a toilet while his friends waited for the victim at a nearby staircase.

After that, the victim went to the toilet and knocked on its door. A1 pulled him inside and his accomplices followed him.

A1 then threatened the victim with the parang.

A1 ordered the victim to strip naked and told him that he would slash the victim with the weapon if the latter was not naked before A1 finished smoking a cigarette. The victim complied out of fear.

After ordering the victim to kneel before him, A1 rained blows on the boy before telling him to apologise to the female friend. A1 and B4 recorded videos of the boy doing so.

Soon after, A1 made the victim drink the urine in the bottle.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Pavithra Ramkumar said: "A1 filmed the victim drinking urine. A1 intended to forward the video to his female friend and thereby injure the victim's reputation."

According to court documents, B1 punched and kicked the victim several times before A1 told the victim to put on his clothes.

After the six boys left the toilet, A1 warned the victim he would attack him if the police were alerted. A1 then forwarded the videos to the female friend.

The victim's father noticed that his son was injured when the boy returned home at around 9.20pm.

He took his son to the National University Hospital, where the boy was found to have facial bruises and scratches. The victim made a police report on March 21, 2023.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.