Jail and rotan for duo who tortured friend to death

SINGAPORE: A couple who cruelly abused their 26-year-old flatmate for eight months until she died from a horrific beating in April 2015, were sentenced to jail.

Tan Hui Zhen, 33, was sentenced to 16 and half years’ jail, and her husband Pua Hak Chuan, 38, was given 14 years’ jail and 14 strokes of the cane.

The couple had pleaded guilty on Monday to charges for the extensive torture of Annie Ee Yu Lian, a waitress who had intellectual disabilities. She died from multiple injuries in their Woodlands four-room flat.

Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said yesterday that this was an “appalling” case and that the couple had abused the victim in an “extremely cruel

and inhumane manner”, causing her to die an undignified death.

They were initially charged with murder but the charges were amended after police completed investigations into Ee’s death and on the basis of forensic pathologist reports.

Tan pleaded guilty to two counts each of causing grievous hurt and causing grievous hurt with a weapon, while Pua pleaded guilty to one count of causing hurt and two counts of causing grievous hurt with a weapon.

Justice Hoo said “Tan and Pua had abused the trust of a vulnerable victim who treated them as her family. When Ee suffered in silence, this emboldened the couple to escalate the violence inflicted on her”, said the judge.

Ee first met Tan when they were teenagers. They rekindled their friendship in 2013.

Estranged from her family, Ee moved into Tan and Pua’s flat in late 2013 and was tasked to do the housework. She called Tan “jie jie” (“older sister” in Mandarin) and Pua “jie fu” (“brother-in-law”).

But she suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of the couple she considered her family.

Tan started assaulting Ee in August 2014 after she blamed the victim for a bedbug infestation. Tan slapped and whipped her, tried to strangle her, banged her head against a wall, and kicked and stepped on her.

Pua was the “standby slapper” who occasionally took over when Tan became tired.

Ee suffered in silence as Tan punished her for misdeeds such as lying or taking too long in the shower.

The beatings progressively became more frequent.

When Ee suffered in silence, this emboldened the couple to escalate the violence. Justice Hoo Sheau Peng