SINGAPORE — Believing his girlfriend was being unfaithful, Muhammad Fairuz Juprey hit her multiple times and left her with facial fractures and a swollen left eye. 

On Monday (Sept 30), he pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt and was sentenced to nine months' jail, even though his girlfriend pleaded with the judge for leniency.

The incident, which occurred on Nov 28 last year, took place on the staircase outside the Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel. Both Fairuz, 30, and his girlfriend, Ms Norazlin Abdul Karim, 37, were inebriated after consuming several rounds of alcohol. 

The couple got into a heated argument and Fairuz, a senior supervisor at a restaurant, made multiple attempts to take his girlfriend’s hand to persuade her to follow him. 

Norazlin resisted his attempts and pushed his hand away.

Fairuz then slapped her and hit her head twice with his hand. He also grabbed her hair and pulled backwards, causing her to fall onto the ground. 

As Ms Norazlin laid on the ground and used her hands to cover her face, Fairuz punched her head and kicked her body. 

She then got up and stood behind a bystander, who attempted to calm Fairuz down. After a while, the bystander stepped aside to let the couple talk and that was when Fairuz lunged at Ms Norazlin to strike her several more times. 

Mr Lew Yee Joo, 62, who is a night manager at the hotel, called the police. He told the police that Ms Norazlin was bleeding from her head.

When the police arrived, Fairuz denied hitting Ms Norazlin, who had been sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment.

In mitigation, Fairuz’s lawyer, Mr Raymund Anthony from Gateway Law Corporation, told District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim that his client was “genuinely remorseful and sad that he had hurt his girlfriend”. 

The pair has been in a serious romantic relationship for two years and are still romantically involved. Ms Norazlin wrote a handwritten letter to the court, seeking leniency and mercy for her boyfriend. 

She wrote: “He is a loving, caring and a dedicated boyfriend… I admit that we both drank too much and (were) drunk, but I’m also sure that he did not do it on purpose.

“My partner has apologised to me many times and I know he is sincerely regretful for his action. I am begging Your Honour to be lenient and merciful to my partner.”