A woman from China who worked at a factory in Singapore left her mark on a colleague, albeit in an extremely painful manner.
This incident saw her pleading guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt, while another was taken into consideration in sentencing during court proceedings yesterday (Dec 29).
Pulled hair & scratched face of colleague
According to CNA, the accused, Li Yali, was a manufacturing worker and was trying to get a job at another company with a colleague on the night of Jul 11.
While Li’s colleague was talking to a group of workers, Li suddenly came over and began berating her as she thought her colleague was badmouthing her.
Following an angry exchange of insults and obscenities, Li yanked her colleague’s hair and scratched her face, which led to bleeding.
Bit off fingertip
The next morning, Li’s colleague confronted Li over what had transpired the previous night and this led to yet another fight.
In the midst of it, Li bit off the fingertip of her colleague’s middle finger, exposing flesh and bone as a result.
The duo were later separated by their manager and Li’s colleague was taken to a hospital’s emergency department, where she was administered antibiotics, pain medication and a tetanus vaccination.
A medical exam found that although she had suffered a fingertip amputation, she could still flex the remaining joints of the finger and had not lost sensation in her left hand.
Li’s colleague also underwent surgery, including bone shortening and artificial nail placement. She was given 46 days of medical leave and 19 days of light duties.
Jailed 8 months and two weeks
In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi asked the judge to hand out three to four months’ jail for Li, stating that her actions had caused moderate harm.
However, District Judge Vince Gui dissented, saying that the harm caused should be considered severe as amputation was permanent.
He also agreed with the prosecution’s argument that biting was an aggravated form of assault as it carries the risk of transmitting diseases.
While addressing the judge, Li said she wasn’t familiar with Singaporean laws and would accept his decision.
But as soon as she was sentenced to eight months and two weeks in jail, Li changed her tune and said she would appeal as she thought she would only be fined.
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