• Mohamad Ridwan Ali threatened to blow up his ex-girlfriend's flat with a gas cylinder
• He confronted his ex-girlfriend about a man whom she was contacting 
• He said in mitigation that he had not planned his crimes

SINGAPORE — Armed with several items such as cable ties and rope, a 38-year-old man broke into his ex-girlfriend’s flat last year, only to discover that she was not home.

Mohamad Ridwan Ali later tied up her two young daughters and domestic worker. He then moved a gas cylinder from the kitchen to where they were and threatened to blow up the flat.

When his ex-girlfriend returned home, he did likewise to her. She eventually had sex with him to try to distract him from her daughters, aged seven and 10.

On Monday (July 13), Ridwan was sentenced to five years and nine months’ jail as well as six strokes of the cane for his actions. 

He pleaded guilty to six charges, including wrongful restraint, housebreaking by night and criminal intimidation. Four similar charges were also considered for sentencing.

All his victims cannot be named because of court orders to protect their identities.

THE BREAK-IN 

The court heard that Ridwan broke into his ex-girlfriend’s flat about two months after the couple’s relationship ended around January last year.

On March 19 that year, at about 2.30am, he opened the flat’s unlocked front door, reached through a gap and retrieved a key hanging on the wall near the door.

After unlocking the gate with the key, he went to his ex-girlfriend’s bedroom. 

Hearing screams, the domestic worker went to check on the children sleeping there. When she entered the room, Ridwan pushed her against a wardrobe, causing her to hit her head and back.

She recognised Ridwan and saw that he was holding a knife. 

After he told her that her employer owed him about S$6,000, she replied that she did not know when the employer would be home.

He then tied the hands and feet of the girls and the helper with masking tape, cable ties and rope, and carried the children to another bedroom. He forced the helper to go there as well.

After telling them to lie on the bed, he threatened to blow up the unit with the gas cylinder if they did not keep quiet. He also taped their mouths shut.

CONFRONTED WOMAN ABOUT MALE FRIEND

When Ridwan’s ex-girlfriend returned around 3am, he pinned her down, held a knife to her neck and told her to keep quiet. 

She sustained several shallow cuts and a bruise under her jaw as a result.

He then took her to the bedroom where her children and helper were, before again threatening to blow up the flat if she did anything foolish.

After tying her up so tightly that she suffered bruises and cuts, he took her mobile phone and checked her messages. He confronted her about a male friend with whom she was exchanging text messages and about a debt she allegedly owed him.

He then sat on the gas cylinder and switched it on, while holding a lighter and flicking the lighter wheel to expose the flame.

He released the restraints around her wrists after some time when she pleaded with him. He later said that he was unhappy with her clothes before cutting up her jeans and top.

She repeatedly reassured him that she would not report the incident to the authorities and that she would no longer talk to the male friend.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Wei Liang told the court that she also had sex with Ridwan. 

“She did so as she remained fearful of the accused’s threats and wanted to distract him in fear of what he might do to her and her children,” DPP Lee said.

Around 7.30am, she persuaded Ridwan to untie her children and helper, and he agreed. An hour later, he took them out for breakfast.

She followed him to complete some deliveries and spent the day with him — all while he had a knife in his possession. She wanted to get help, but was afraid to do so.

At 6pm, Ridwan, along with the woman, her children and the domestic worker, returned to the flat before she and Ridwan left to get dinner. 

While out, she called her helper on the pretext of asking her what food she wanted, then told her to hide the clothes that Ridwan had cut up and the items he used to tie them up to preserve the evidence.

Ridwan stayed with them until the next day.

That morning, she told him she needed to retrieve her older daughter’s birth certificate from her office so that she could collect the girl’s passport.

When he fetched her there, the woman called her helper from her office and asked her to get help from her ex-husband to file a police report.

Ridwan was arrested later that evening at Woodlands Mart. The authorities seized a kitchen knife, screwdriver, hammer, Swiss army knife and hammer from him.

ACTS ‘CLEARLY EGREGIOUS’

DPP Lee sought the sentence imposed, saying that the case was “clearly egregious” and that the restraint was prolonged.

Ridwan, who gave his own mitigation plea without a lawyer, said that he had not planned his crimes and that the items seized from him were for work. He had lived with the victims for almost two years and had clothes in their flat, he added.

He also said that he had stayed out of jail for 15 years. Among his past crimes, he was jailed 1.5 years and given six strokes of the cane in 2005 for rioting. Most recently, in 2012, he was fined S$4,000 for a cheating offence.

He said: “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision made by me. I myself was in shock and it was unexpected that my girlfriend was not home. 

“Be that as it may, it can’t be undone. As I said, it’s a normal routine for me to be there despite quarrels or fights.”