A domestic helper who stabbed and slashed her female employer more than 90 times in 2016 has lost her appeal for a lighter sentence based on her claim that she is mentally ill.
On Thursday (Mar 31), the murder conviction Daryati, a 29-year-old Indonesian national, was upheld by the Court of Appeal. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2021.
Daryati, who only goes by that one name, killed her employer, Madam Seow Kim Choo on June 7, 2016 at Madam Seow’s house in Telok Kurau.
Mdm Seow, 59, had been discovered with 98 knife wounds, most of which were on her head and neck.
The helper admitted that she had stabbed her employer in the face and neck many times, as well as slit her throat, when she was interviewed by the police between June 8 and July 26, 2016.
Mdm Seow had stopped Daryati from getting her passport and stealing from her as the helper attempted to go home to Indonesia.
Daryati’s lawyer, Mr Leon Koh, argued for a conviction of culpable homicide instead of murder, claiming that the maid suffered from a persistent depressive disorder.
This condition, the lawyer added, decreased the responsibility for her actions.
Mr Koh, who represented Daryati pro bono, had told the apex court that it was “not normal” for the helper to slash and stab Mdm Seow repeatedly since she had been treated with kindness by her employer’s family.
Therefore, he argued, the attack had been caused by her mental illness.
However, the judges underlined that the context of the stabbing—that Daryati’s plans to steal from the employer and flee to Indonesia—had been discovered and foiled by Mdm Seow, which made the helper angry.
The judges added that Daryati had been able to perform her duties well in the household of Mdm Seow, and had shown no signs of impairment, adding that she had also shown a “substantial degree of plotting” that “displayed her ability to plan ahead and reason clearly,” The Straits Times reported.
“In the course of formulating her plan to steal money, retrieve her passport and escape, she drew a map detailing a layout of the house, enlisted the help of (another maid who worked for the family) and put much thought into choosing the most opportune moment to strike,” read Justice Andrew Phang, who had delivered the apex court’s decision. /TISG
Lawyer in Telok Kurau murder claims maid was in ‘oppressed state’ when giving police statements