Teen Accused of Killing Schoolmate in RVHS Had His Murder Charge Reduced to Culpable Homicide

When thinking about schools in Singapore, most of us would probably remember the traumatising incident that happened at River Valley High School (RVHS) back in 2021.

That year, a Secondary Four student was charged with murder after being accused of murdering a Secondary One schoolmate of his in school on 19 July.

The former, who was 16 years old when he allegedly committed the act, cannot be named as he was a minor when the offence occurred.

In Singapore, those below 18 are covered under the Children and Young Persons Act.

He is now 18 years old and took his O-levels as a private candidate in prison last year.

Today (24 February), his murder charge was reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Here’s the difference.

Difference Between Murder and Culpable Homicide

According to the Singapore Statutes Online website, “Whoever causes death by doing an act with the intention of causing death, or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death, commits the offence of culpable homicide”.

Wait, so what’s the difference between that and murder?

For an act to be counted as murder and not culpable homicide, it must meet at least one of the four criteria as listed in Section 300 of the Penal Code:

1. If the act by which the death is caused is done to cause death.
2. If the act is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm is caused. (Basically, if the person still commits the act despite knowing that it will cause the victim’s death)
3. If the act is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person, and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.
4. If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must in all probability cause death, or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death, or such injury as aforesaid.

So, if the accused can prove that their motive for killing the victim does not fall into any of the four categories mentioned above, or if they can establish “certain exceptions” to their act, their offence may be reduced from murder to culpable homicide.

More About the Case

According to court documents, the accused repeatedly slashed the victim on the neck, head and body in a toilet at RVHS between 11.16 am and 11.44 am on 19 July 2021.

After undergoing psychiatric assessments at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), the accused has been in remand ever since.

Prior to this incident, he was also warded at IMH after attempting suicide in 2019.

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The accused is expected to appear in court again on 6 April as his case was adjourned to that date.

Individuals convicted of committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder may face life imprisonment with caning or a maximum jail term of 20 years with a fine or caning.

Although those convicted of murder will be sentenced to the death penalty, individuals cannot be sentenced to death according to Section 314 of the Criminal Procedure Code if they committed the offence when they were younger than 18.

These individuals will be sentenced to life imprisonment instead.