During a night out, a man lost his temper when his girlfriend suggested sending a male colleague home before the couple headed to a nightclub.
He proceeded to press a utility knife against her neck and pointed it at the male colleague to stop him from interfering, before forcibly dragging his girlfriend into his car and taking her to his home.
The male colleague subsequently called the police, who then arrested Chen at his residence.
On Aug 15, Chen Weinian (transliterated) was sentenced to 20 months in jail, Shin Min Daily News reported.
Chen had faced six charges, including voluntarily causing hurt by a dangerous weapon and criminal intimidation. He pleaded guilty to three charges, with the remaining charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
Chen and the victim, 29, had been in a relationship since Sept 2023. They ended the relationship after the incident.
Victim suggested sending a male colleague home
On Sept 14 2024, Chen learned that the victim was out drinking with her colleagues and asked her why he had not been invited.
The victim told him that she would be heading to a nightclub at Balmoral Plaza and invited him to join.them. Chen agreed to do so.
At around 3am, Chen said he would take the victim and a male colleague to a nightclub to meet his friends. However, as the colleague’s attire did not match the dress code, Chen asked him to take a cab home to get changed.
The victim proposed that Chen drive him home instead, which sparked an argument between the couple. The colleague initially tried to defuse the tension, but eventually left on his own.
Threatened victim, colleague with utility knife
The argument escalated when Chen began pushing the victim. Frightened,she went to seek help from her male colleague.
As she tried to flee to the first floor of the shopping mall, Chen knocked her down from behind and grabbed one of her legs when she attempted to get up.
When the colleague approached, Chen gestured for him not to interfere and forcibly pulled the victim into the lift, taking her to the underground car park.
Chen then threw the victim to the ground and retrieved a 16cm utility knife with a 5.5cm blade from his car, pointing it at both the victim and the colleague. “Want to join in?” Chen asked the colleague, frightening him and causing him to keep his distance.
Chen forced the victim into a corner, pressing the knife to her neck for about 20 seconds and saying: “If you don’t want to talk to me properly, then let’s die together”. The blade cut her neck, leaving a wound approximately 1cm-long.
The victim, who was in tears, wanted to leave. However, Chen suddenly threw the blade to the ground, forced her into the car, locked the doors and drove to his home at Block 477 Pasir Ris Avenue 6.
While in the car, Chen forced the victim to send a text to her colleague that said: “I’m fine”. The colleague, who remained at the scene, called the police.
Chen instructed the victim not to reveal their location, but authorities eventually traced her to Chen’s residence and arrested him on the spot.
