Indonesian faces death penalty

Maid accused of brutal murder of boss

SINGAPORE: A month after starting work for a family in Telok Kurau, an Indonesian maid became so homesick and filled with longing for her lover in Hong Kong, that she hatched a “ruthless plan” to kill her employer.

Daryati, 26, wanted to get her passport that was kept in a safe and to steal money from a locked drawer so that she can return home, prosecutors told the High Court yesterday on the first day of her murder trial.

She is facing the death penalty for stabbing and slashing Seow Kim Choo, 59, on June 7, 2016, leaving Seow with 98 knife wounds, most of which were on her head and neck.

In opening its case against Daryati, the prosecution cited her own words that she had written in her diary.

The translated entry read: “I must carry out this plan quickly. I have to be brave even though (a) life is at stake. I am ready to face all risks/consequences, whatever the risk, I must be ready to accept it.”

Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Kok Weng said these chilling words were in effect an “ex-ante” (before the event) confession of the “brutal and cold-blooded” killing which she would eventually perpetrate.

He said the prosecution will rely on Daryati’s police statements, in which she confessed to, among other things, slitting Seow’s neck and stabbing her multiple times.

Seow lived in the three-storey house with her husband, two adult sons, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

Daryati started working for the family on April 13, 2016.

Her passport was kept in a safe in the master bedroom and only Seow and her husband, Ong Thiam Soon, had the keys.

The DPP said Daryati devised a plan to kill Seow as early as May 12 so that she can retrieve her passport, steal money and return to Indonesia.

Daryati roped in the second maid in the household to help, but did not say that the plan involved murder.

In the days before she stabbed Seow, whom she later described to police as “a very nice person”, Daryati hid weapons on the second floor of the three-storey house, said the DPP.

On June 7, hiding a knife in her clothing, Daryati went up to the master bedroom with a pair of trousers she had ironed for Seow.

In the room, Daryati whipped out the knife and demanded the return of her passport.

When Seow shouted, Daryati dragged her into the toilet, closed the door and repeatedly slashed and stabbed her neck, head and face until Seow collapsed on the floor.

To ensure she was dead, Daryati retrieved the short knife she had hidden under the sink and repeatedly stabbed Seow in the neck, said the DPP. By this time, Ong had entered the master bedroom and used a screwdriver to open the toilet door.

When the door opened, Daryati attacked Ong by stabbing his neck. He managed to disarm her but when he went to check on Seow, Daryati retrieved the knife and stabbed him on the neck a second time.

Ong eventually restrained Daryati and tied her hands with cable ties.

A psychiatric report said Daryati was suffering from adjustment disorder at the time but this did not amount to a major mental disorder that would diminish her responsibility for her actions. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network