Indian-origin man faces death penalty for murder of co-worker in Singapore

Singapore: An Indian-origin man in Singapore was on Saturday charged in a court with the murder of a fellow worker at a construction site, according to a media report. Saravanan Arimuram, 31, faces death penalty for the alleged murder of Sivakumar Perumal, 43, who suffered injuries to his face and chest on Thursday, and died later, The Straits Times reported.

Arimuram allegedly got into a fight with Perumal, who was then driving a prime mover and he was a passenger. Apart from the two, an 18-year-old man was also travelling on the prime mover which crashed along Jurong Town Hall Road in the Singapore’s suburb industrial estate.

The three men were taken to the National University Hospital, it said, citing a police statement.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the accident was believed to have occurred following a dispute between the deceased and the suspect,” the report said quoting the police statement.

According to the court papers, it was not clear that if Perumal’s injuries were caused by the accident or they were inflicted before the crash.

He was remanded to police custody and will be produced in the court on February 23. If convicted of murder, Perumal will face the death penalty, the report said. Arimuram, who was dressed in a bright yellow tank-top with the words “Yellow Ribbon Project”, kept his eyes closed in the dock as the charge was read out to him.

The Yellow Ribbon Project, started as a community initiative in Singapore in 2004, aims to create awareness about the need to give a second chance to ex-offenders released from prison.