A STOMPer was terribly unlucky for running into a petty man onboard the MRT on September 12. Unhappy that she had accidentally stepped on his toes, the ungracious commuter stepped on her toes and even threw a punch at her in return.

The man was so angry at the STOMPer for stepping on his toes that he not only pushed her, he even demanded that she remove her shoes and allow him to step on her toes in return.

Although the STOMPer obliged, she says the man took it overboard and exerted a large amount of force. When she retaliated, he had the cheek to throw a punch at her, injuring her chin badly.

In an email dated September 15, the STOMPer says:

“I want to write in to report what happened to me on Saturday, September 12, and create awareness about this very angry and aggressive man who punched me for accidentally stepping on his toes!

“I was taking part in the Amazing Art Find organised by the NAC to look for sculptures in public spaces. At approx 1:42pm, I boarded the train at City Hall on my way to Orchard ION.

“As the train was coming to a stop, the train jerked, and I lost my balance, accidentally stepping on someone's toes behind me.

“Before I could turn around to apologise, someone pushed me from the back. I turned around and faced an indignant Chinese man in his mid-30's dressed in casual wear (and slippers).

“I asked if he pushed me and he said yes, explaining that it was because I stepped on his toes and it was very painful. I maintained that he didn’t need to push me and his reason was that if he didn’t, I would continue to step on his toes.

“This went on for a while, and my girlfriends who were taking part in the race with me brought up the fact that he didn’t have cause, especially pushing a girl in public.

“He maintained that it was very painful and that we just didn’t get how painful it was.

“After a couple of minutes, I said: ‘Forget it, I am sorry I stepped on you but I still don’t think you had to push me,’ before I turned around.

“My friends and I laughed at how ridiculous the situation was.

“Suddenly, he shouted: ‘What's so funny? You think it's very funny is it? It’s very painful okay?

“At this point, I was totally flabbergasted as I had already apologised so I asked what more he wanted and if he wanted to step on my feet in return.

“He said yes and I stuck my feet out but to my surprise, he wanted me to take my shoes off.

“So I took off my shoes and he stepped on my toes, pressed his weight, twisted his foot around, and leaned into my face saying: ‘Painful right? Painful right?’

“Not wanting to give in, I said ‘no’.

“So he continued to press his weight until the doors opened at Somerset.

“I then told him that was enough and pushed him out of the train, onto the platform.

“He then got angry and threw a punch at my face. I stepped back and he hit me on the chin instead.

“I have since reported the incident to the police but am still waiting to see if anything will come out of that.

“I just saw on Stomp that another girl was assaulted at the train station and am totally appalled. If girls are increasingly being hit in public, the issue is definitely something we should look into.

“Singapore is supposed to be a safe country. I definitely do think twice about going out into crowded places these days, heaven forbid, I step on someone else's toes.”