A 49-year-old man has pleaded guilty to attempting to murder his wife in a brutal cleaver attack along Beach Road in 2022.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on 3 June 2025.
Chinese National Admits to Brutal Beach Road Attack on Wife
On 20 May 2025, Cheng Guoyuan, 49, pleaded guilty to attempted murder for a brutal cleaver attack on his wife, Han Hongli, 44, carried out on 14 April 2022.
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Two counts of criminal intimidation will be taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The Chinese national attacked Ms Han outside Chong Qing Steamboat Bar on Beach Road, where she worked as a manager.
“I am very remorseful. I have done something wrong, and I admit it,” Cheng told the court through a Mandarin interpreter.
The prosecution sought life imprisonment and eight to 12 strokes of the cane for Cheng, stating the attack caused severe harm and his culpability was very high.
Cheng’s lawyer, Mr Johannes Hadi, asked for 15 years’ jail and five strokes of the cane, noting his client’s clean record suggested this was “an isolated incident arising out of emotional collapse rather than entrenched criminality.”
Justice Audrey Lim will deliver her decision on 3 June.
Relationship Breakdown and Violent Attack Timeline
The couple met in 2004 and registered their marriage in China in 2009. They have a son born in 2006, while Ms Han has a daughter from a previous marriage.
In 2016, Ms Han came to Singapore to work, regularly sending about 10,000 yuan (S$1,800) to Cheng every two months.
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Their relationship deteriorated over time as Cheng felt Ms Han looked down on him for earning less money.
In April 2021, Ms Han discovered Cheng had committed some wrongdoing against her daughter. The nature of this wrongdoing was not revealed in court.
Ms Han threatened to report the matter to Chinese police but eventually agreed for Cheng to pay 40,000 yuan as compensation to her daughter.
The relationship became acrimonious after this incident. Ms Han stopped sending money to Cheng, who fell into financial difficulties after borrowing money to pay the compensation.
On 25 November 2021, Cheng went to Ms Han’s workplace, leading to a half-hour quarrel outside the restaurant.
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Two days later, he threatened to kill Ms Han and her brother if she refused to reconcile with him. Ms Han filed a police report on 28 November 2021.
After being warned by police, Cheng returned to China on 5 January 2022, but came back to Singapore on 6 April 2022 to work at a restaurant on Veerasamy Road without informing Ms Han.
On 12 April 2022, he devised a plan to kill Ms Han if she refused to keep his wrongdoing secret. Over the next few days, he drafted several notes on WeChat meant to be read after his death.
Addressed to several people, he accused Ms Han of being unfaithful and expressed a desire for her to suffer the consequences of her actions.
He urged his son to look after himself, adding that he was ‘really very tired’. In a message to his brother, Cheng said he wished to die alongside Ms Han, whom he claimed had ‘destroyed’ him.”
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He wrote that he wanted Ms Han to ‘pay the price for betraying’ him, and said he ‘had no face to go on living’.
Horrific Public Attack and Lasting Injuries
The attack began around 5:18pm on 14 April 2022, when Cheng arrived at Ms Han’s workplace. Shocked to see him, she agreed to speak to him in a back lane between Liang Seah Street and Middle Road.
Cheng told Ms Han to go with him to the Chinese embassy for a divorce. When she said she didn’t have time, he grabbed her hair and took out the cleaver he had brought.
“If I am not living well, you should not think about living,” he said in Mandarin before repeatedly slashing her head as she tried to block the blows with her arms.
The cleaver blade broke off from its handle after multiple strikes. By then, Ms Han’s left hand was almost severed.
Cheng pressed the blade against her neck as she lay on the floor, but she managed to escape when he was distracted by bystanders.
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After cutting his wrist several times, Cheng entered the kitchen of the steamboat restaurant and grabbed another cleaver. He found Ms Han again when she tripped and fell near a parked car, continuing his assault by slashing her thigh and lower body.
Bystanders intervened by throwing plastic chairs, bins, and other objects at Cheng. Restaurant workers and technicians warded him off with ladders and metal signposts.
Eventually, Cheng returned to the restaurant, cutting his neck and wrists along the way. He transferred money to his son and brother before police arrived at 5:39pm and subdued him with a taser.
Ms Han suffered extensive life-changing injuries requiring multiple surgeries. She lost sight in her left eye, her face is permanently disfigured, and the functioning of her arms is impaired. The tip of her right ring finger was also amputated.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Han said she had suicidal thoughts following the incident and took one and a half years to recover. For months after the attack, she feared knives and men wearing caps and blue face masks.
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Ms Han stopped attending follow-up medical appointments as she could not afford the bills, despite initially receiving donations from organizations.
Nine men were commended for their bravery in helping to fend off the attacker.
Videos of the horrific attack went viral in 2022, with the prosecution noting that the extensive media coverage amplified public disquiet.
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