SINGAPORE — The 48-year-old man charged with hurting three madrasah students earlier this month has been diagnosed with a mental illness, and will be remanded in jail for the next two weeks.

An Institute of Mental Health (IMH) report presented in a district court on Monday (April 25) stated that Koh Weng Onn, a security officer, suffers from a disorder with delusions of persecution and reference, but remains fit to take his plea.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Yi Lin requested for more time to clarify with IMH the specific nature and trigger behind Koh’s delusions, and the course and length of treatment recommended.

Koh is accused of kicking a 16-year-old on her right thigh at around 7.22am along Paya Lebar Road, when she was on her way to her school nearby, Madrasah Al Maarif Al Islamiah. A minute later, Koh allegedly swung a plastic bag containing a filled 1.5-litre water bottle at the face of a 14-year-old student from the same madrasah. He is accused of repeating the act against another 14-year-old student near an exit of the Paya Lebar MRT Station on the Circle Line.

For kicking the first student, he faces enhanced penalties of up to three years’ jail and/or a S$7,500 fine for the “racially aggravated” act of voluntarily causing hurt, if convicted. For acting rashly to endanger the lives of the two girls he allegedly attacked subsequently, Koh faces up to a year in jail and/or a S$5,000 fine.

His Muslim-convert older brother, Mr Muhammad Johan Koh, had earlier contacted TODAY to apologise to the Malay-Muslim community for the incident.

Meanwhile, an anonymous entrepreneur has approached criminal lawyer Sunil Sudheesan to represent Koh, and will foot the bill for the legal fees.

Koh has been remanded at IMH over the past three weeks for psychiatric assessment, and will now be moved to jail for further remand. DPP Goh said that he was at “high risk” of re-offending out in the community.

Mr Sudheesan agreed, on the condition that the IMH report be given to prison authorities, so that the accused could receive treatment during remand.

A pre-trial conference for this case has been scheduled for May 9.