A week after a series of knife attacks, the body of 41-year-old Indian national has been flown to Chennai even as two others recuperating here are uncertain about their future in the city.
Shanmuganathan Dillidurai, who lived some 300 km outside Chennai, had been working here for two years, The Sunday Times reported.
The construction worker, killed in a gang attack in Kallang housing estate here, also worked as a rag and bone man to supplement his 600 Singaporean Dollar monthly salary to support the university education of his two sons.
Dillidurai started his day as early as 6 am and returned to the dormitory 12 midnight, his colleagues said.
But his life was snapped short last Sunday following a rare but vicious gang attack, which also left Egar Karuppaiah, 43, and Sandeep Singh, 23, hospitalised after being beaten, slashed and stabbed.
The hands and head of Mr. Karuppaiah, who worked as a pipe fitter, were slashed by the knife-wielding gang.
Mr. Singh, who suffered head injuries, has undergone an eight-hour operation to patch the wounds.
Mr. Karuppaiah, hailing from Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu, has been earning to support his 18-year-old son’s college education. He also has a 15-year-old daughter.
The Indian said he hopes to stay on here and continue to work to support his son’s education, while Mr. Singh’s parents in Punjab want him to return home as soon as he recovers.
Mr. Karuppaiah, who paid Rs 3,00,000 to an agent for work in Singapore, is uncertain on how his medical bills would be settled.
Meanwhile, Sinwah Timber Builders, the former employer of Mr. Singh, is considering paying some of his medical bills. The 23-year-old has been unemployed for a year, having walked away from Sinwah in search of a better paying job.
Singaporean Ang Jun Heng, a 19-year-old doing national service in the Singapore Armed Forces, was the fourth victim of the attacks.
Police have charged six foreigners from Sarawak on Borneo island for the gang attacks carried out separately on individuals in the Kallang area.
Three of them are facing death penalty for the murder of Shanmuganathan, whose body was sent home on Tuesday night.
It was a rare gang attack case in Singapore, the police said.
The Sarawakians picked up individuals walking alone and slashed them on heads and body with long heavy knives, called ‘parangs’, and took away cash and cellphones.
