Love triangle gone wrong: 72-year-old man sets fire to rival's house and beats him with plank

Heartbroken and alone, Zuo Jian Ting, 72, made multiple attempts to win his former love back.

But when he found out that his 50-year-old ex-girlfriend had found someone else, Zuo allegedly set fire to the other man's HDB unit and even attacked him. 

Zuo was sentenced on Monday (June 13) to four years and 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of grievous hurt by dangerous weapons and one count of mischief by fire, reported Shin Min Daily News yesterday (June 14).

Zuo and his then girlfriend broke up in May 2020 but he later discovered that she was seeing 64-year-old Chen Guo Shen.

An angry Zuo, who wanted to scare Chen away, then went to his house on the night of Oct 13, 2020 when the latter was fast asleep.

He lit the house on fire and then fled the scene, after tying a metal wire around the metal gate outside of Chen's house to prevent him from escaping.

Fortunately, a neighbour discovered the fire and quickly put it out before calling the police.

After that incident, Zuo who noticed that his ex was still with Chen then decided to teach him another lesson, reported the evening daily.

This time, he took an 18-inch wooden plank and ambushed Chen near his home on Nov 12, 2020.

He then hit him repeatedly when he stepped out of the elevator, only leaving the scene after Chen fell.

As a result of the incident, Chen said he lost some of his senses in his left hand and foot, according to Shin Min Daily News.

He also said that he lost his job at a ban mian stall and have also broken up with Zuo's ex-girlfriend not long after.

Chen said he has since used over $100,000 from his CPF to pay for his medical fees and is now relying on his mother to support him for his daily needs.

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schermainechoo@asiaone.com