They bound her hands and legs, then struck her repeatedly.
In a Singapore courtroom this October, two young men from India who arrived seeking leisure departed instead into years of incarceration — their choices across two hotel rooms on two April nights having collapsed the distance between a holiday and a reckoning. A court sentenced each to five years and caning for the violent robbery of two sex workers, crimes premeditated and carried out with deliberate cruelty. Singapore's legal framework leaves little room for mitigation when violence accompanies theft, and the judge, hearing of hardship and family burden, found neither sufficient reason to deviate from the law's minimum demand.
- Two men on vacation transformed a stranger's proposition in Little India into a calculated plan to prey on vulnerable women across two separate hotel rooms.
- The victims were bound, struck, silenced, and stripped of cash, jewelry, passports, and phones — their identification documents stolen alongside their sense of safety.
- A second victim's disclosure to another person the following day set a police investigation in motion, leading to the arrest and charging of both men.
- In court without lawyers, both men offered personal tragedies — a dead father, a struggling wife and child — as silent pleas for mercy that the judge declined to honor.
- Singapore's mandatory sentencing floor held firm: five years, one month, and 12 strokes of the cane each, with the men now in custody and their return to India years away.
On a Friday in October, a Singapore court sentenced two Indian men — Arokkiyasami Daison, 23, and Rajendran Mayilarasan, 27 — to five years and one month in prison each, along with 12 strokes of the cane. They had pleaded guilty to violent robbery committed during what was meant to be a holiday.
The two arrived in Singapore on April 24. Two days later, a stranger in Little India offered them contact details for sex workers. Arokkiyasami proposed they use the opportunity to rob the women instead. Rajendran agreed. That evening, they lured the first woman to a hotel room, bound her hands and legs with her own clothing, beat her, and took her jewelry, 2,000 Singapore dollars, her passport, and her bank cards.
Later that same night, they arranged a second meeting at a different hotel. When the woman arrived, they grabbed her, restrained her, and covered her mouth to suppress her screams. They stole 800 dollars, two phones, and her passport, then warned her not to leave until they had gone. Her account to someone the next day prompted a police investigation that led to both men's arrest.
At sentencing, neither man had legal representation. Speaking through an interpreter, each offered a portrait of personal hardship — a father recently dead, a wife and child left behind in India with no income. The judge listened and did not relent. Singapore law mandates a minimum of five years and 12 strokes of the cane for robbery accompanied by injury. The court applied exactly that. Both men remain in custody, their passports confiscated, their lives suspended far from home.
On a Friday in October, a Singapore court handed down sentences that would reshape the remainder of two men's lives. Arokkiyasami Daison, 23, and Rajendran Mayilarasan, 27, both from India, each received five years and one month in prison, along with 12 strokes of the cane. They had pleaded guilty to causing deliberate harm while committing robbery.
The two had arrived in Singapore on April 24 for what was meant to be a holiday. Two days into their stay, while walking through Little India, a stranger approached them with a proposition: he offered contact information for sex workers available for hire. What happened next unfolded across two hotel rooms and two separate nights of violence.
Arokkiyasami suggested to Rajendran that they contact the women and rob them. Rajendran agreed. Around 6 p.m. on April 26, they arranged to meet the first woman in a hotel room. Once inside, they bound her hands and legs using her own clothing, then struck her repeatedly. They took her jewelry, 2,000 Singapore dollars in cash, her passport, and her bank cards.
Hours later, near 11 p.m., they set up a second meeting at a different hotel with another woman. When she arrived, they grabbed her by the arms and dragged her toward the bed. Rajendran covered her mouth to muffle her screams. They stole 800 Singapore dollars, two mobile phones, and her passport, then threatened her not to leave the room until they were gone.
The second victim's account to another man the following day triggered a police investigation. Both men were arrested and charged. During their sentencing hearing, neither had legal representation. Speaking through an interpreter, Arokkiyasami told the judge that his father had died the previous year, leaving him with three sisters and no financial resources. Rajendran said his wife and child remained in India, struggling without income. The judge did not grant them leniency.
Under Singapore law, robbery accompanied by injury carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and 12 strokes of the cane, with a maximum of 20 years imprisonment. The court applied the minimum. Both men remain in custody, their sentences now running, their passports confiscated, their return to India years away.
Citas Notables
My father passed away last year. I have three sisters, one of whom is married, and we have no money. That is why we did this.— Arokkiyasami Daison, speaking through an interpreter during sentencing
My wife and child are alone in India, and they are financially suffering.— Rajendran Mayilarasan, during mitigation
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does this case matter beyond the immediate harm to these two women?
Because it shows how quickly a vacation can become a crime, and how Singapore treats violent robbery. The law here doesn't distinguish between robbery of a sex worker and robbery of anyone else—the violence is the violence.
The men claimed poverty as their reason. Do you think that's genuine?
The court heard it and didn't reduce the sentence. Whether it's genuine or not, Singapore's position is clear: desperation doesn't excuse binding someone's hands and stealing their identity documents.
What strikes you most about how this unfolded?
The randomness of the first encounter. A stranger on the street offers contact information, and within hours, two people are planning violence. It suggests how quickly opportunity and desperation can align.
The women lost more than money—they lost passports, phones, their sense of safety in a hotel room.
Yes. And they had to report it, had to relive it in court, had to be identified in legal documents as sex workers. The robbery itself was violent, but the aftermath carries its own weight.
What does the caning add to the sentence?
It's part of Singapore's framework for violent crime. It's not just time away—it's physical punishment. The law treats this as serious enough to warrant both.