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SINGAPORE: A maid on trial for murdering her employer, leaving nearly 100 knife wounds on her body, told a court on Thursday (October 8) that she could not control her hands, “they kept stabbing.”
Daryati, 28, an Indonesian national, said he did not intend to kill Madame Seow Kim Choo, 59, and only wanted to threaten her, cutting her face until Daryati could get the keys to a safe where she kept your passport.
She is charged with murdering her employer by stabbing and cutting her face, scalp, and neck multiple times on the night of June 7, 2016. A second count for attempting to murder Mdm Seow’s husband, Mr. Ong Thiam Soon, who burst into the toilet when he heard the commotion, he was removed for the time being.
Daryati was originally found guilty on the murder charge, but the conviction was later overturned after she chose to continue her defense of diminished liability, and the case returned to trial.
For a defense of diminished liability to stand, the defendant must be suffering from a specific mental abnormality that substantially affected her mental responsibility to cause death.
She took the stand on Thursday and was questioned by Assistant District Attorney Wong Kok Weng, who told her that he had full knowledge and control of his actions when he stabbed Mdm Seow.
Responding through an interpreter, Daryati repeatedly maintained that he did not intend to kill his employer at Telok Kurau’s home four years ago. He said he was in “a very angry state” and couldn’t control his hands.
Daryati said she had only wanted to retrieve her passport, which was in a locked safe, only Mdm Seow and Ong had the keys, and to return home. She had been working for the family for about two months at the time.
However, the prosecutor noted that Daryati had said in his police statement that he would kill Mdm Seow if he did not return his passport.
LEE: Maid demands trial for the murder of the employer, allegedly stabbed and cut almost 100 times
Daryati agreed with the prosecutor that she had targeted Mdm Seow instead of Ong because it would be easier to control her.
She was homesick and yearned for her lover in Hong Kong, and said she never wanted to come to work in Singapore, but had to because of her parents. Daryati said that her employers had treated her well, but claimed that Mdm Seow would not allow her to return to Indonesia.
He told another maid who worked for the house about his plan to steal money from the family and return to Indonesia, but did not tell her when he intended to carry it out, or that he intended to threaten Mdm Seow with a knife.
Before the attack, Daryati hid weapons in the house, including a knife in an area of the closet, a hammer next to a study table, and a short knife in a basket under the main bedroom toilet sink.
THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT, ACCORDING TO DARYATI
At approximately 8:30 pm on June 7, 2016, she diverted Mr. Ong’s attention, so she headed downstairs, before approaching Mdm Seow in the master bedroom with a long knife hidden in his pants.
He pointed the knife at Mdm Seow’s neck and said he wanted his passport to go to Indonesia.
Speaking to police, Daryati said Mdm Seow screamed loudly in Mandarin and struggled when Daryati tried to lead her to the safe where the passport was kept.
Fearing that Mr. Ong would hear Mdm Seow screaming, Daryati dragged the older woman into the bathroom, Daryati said in her police statement.
When they were in the bathroom, Daryati said that he cut his neck, and the floor became slippery from blood, then he stabbed him and cut his neck again. Mdm Seow collapsed and Daryati said he pushed the older woman down, her head hitting the ground, and rode her before stabbing her multiple times in the face.
Daryati said at the time that she did not remember how many times she stabbed Mdm Seow.
In court, Daryati admitted that she was “the one who hurt Madam at the time.”
The prosecutor, Mr. Wong, asked him why he did not run away immediately, and instead pulled the short knife from under the sink and continued to stab Mdm Seow. The wounds inflicted were so severe that three of the stab wounds fractured facial bones.
“At that time I was in a very angry state and couldn’t control my hands,” Daryati replied, adding that she was “feeling empty” because she couldn’t go back to Indonesia.
“In fact, I was stabbing Madame (many) times because I couldn’t control my hands,” he said.
CRUEL AND SELFISH ACTIONS: FISCAL
Wong said that Daryati’s actions can be summed up in one word: Cruel.
“Due to his selfish intention to take away his wife’s passport and money, he stabbed her so brutally in the face, neck, so many times that she bled to death,” he said.
Daryati repeated that he initially just wanted to get her passport, but couldn’t control his anger or “control my hands to stab Madame”.
At that time, Mr. Ong was alerted to the commotion and opened the bathroom door with a screwdriver. When he entered, Daryati took both knives in her hands and attacked him, stabbing him just below his neck.
Mr. Ong overpowered her after a fight and was later turned over to the police.
The trial continues. If convicted of murder, she could be sentenced to death or life in prison. The prosecution previously confirmed that they would not ask for a death sentence if Daryati stayed true to an agreed statement of fact.
