“Torture by Tattoo” – The Sunday Times [15th April 2007]

Summary

The ordeal started when a 46-year-old man saw his 33-year-old ex-wife leaving her house at Woodlands, with a man. It angered him, especially with his 10-year-old daughter also witnessing what he considered a "betrayal".

As a result, the man called for his friend and waited together at the Woodlands apartment for his ex-wife to return. When the woman returned, the couple quarreled and then they pinned her down on bed and started the outrageous act.

The man held her down while the friend tattooed her from the breast to abdomen and the forearms. They then left her tied to bed in devastation. She was only freed when her friend returned to the apartment.

She then made a police report and is still suffering from assault. She now has to put on long sleeves to cover up the humiliation on her body, and has to give up many jobs which cannot meet this requirement of hers.

Currently, the man has given himself up and is sentenced to three years in jail and six strokes of cane. His accomplice is still at large.

Response

After reading the article, I personally feel a little traumatized by the issue. [PERVERTS!]

It’s horrifying how much harm can be brought about by a man’s ego. Also, this is not the only case of assault to partner due to breakups. There were four other brutal acts listed in the article.

Firstly, with regards to the article itself, I feel that we can partially understand the anger within the man when he saw his ex-wife with another man; furthermore, the new couple is already married. However, the accomplice should not be forgiven for his acts at all. Instead, he should be given a heavier sentence, for he carried out those acts with a conscious mind. Especially when he is aware that their humiliation was a challenge to the law and that it is very inhuman, instead of stopping the man and persuading him out of the idea, he helped him in hurting the woman.

Secondly, I sympathize with the woman. They are already divorced and she has started her life anew with another relationship. Since the man has already agreed to the divorce, he should not restrict her to himself. Hence, we can see that the man does not really love her, but it’s just the desire to own the woman that led him into hurting her. Right now, she has to consider going through another round of severe and indescribable pains if she decides to remove the tattoo.

Thirdly, we should understand that many of such brutal assaults are a result of breakups. The divorce rates are on the rise and people do not take relationship as seriously as before. Ending a relationship may be easy for some but harsh for others. Therefore, there should be more public activities to promote healthy relationships and to teach people how to go about getting over a ended relationship.

Lastly, I hope that the accomplice will be caught soon and severe sentence will be announced for him. It might not do much with helping the woman to recover from the trauma, however, it will help to punish the man and prevent him from such acts in the future. He definitely will undergo counseling; however, I feel it is not enough.

***Jun Yi... claiming credits from Mr. Quek… signing off... Have a nice day readers =)***