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SINGAPORE: On Monday (September 21) the conviction of a maid who was convicted in April on a reduced murder charge for killing her employer was overturned after opting for the lessened liability defense.
As his new instructions would qualify his guilty plea, the conviction was overturned for the court to hear new arguments about diminished responsibility.
For a defense of diminished liability to stand, the defendant must suffer from a specific mental abnormality that substantially affected her mental responsibility for causing the deaths.
This means that the trial of 28-year-old Indonesian Daryati will continue and the defense is expected to open his case in October. She will only be found guilty or acquitted at the end of the trial.
She faces a murder charge by stabbing and stabbing Madam Seow Kim Choo multiple times on the night of June 7, 2016, at Mdm Seow’s home in Telok Kurau.
A second count of attempting to murder Mdm Seow’s husband will be dropped or set aside for the time being.
According to an agreed statement of fact that Daryati still acknowledges, she worked for Mdm Seow and her family for two months before feeling homesick and longing for her lover in Hong Kong.
Despite being treated well by her employers, Daryati wanted to return to Indonesia and start a business, and wrote in her journal that she had to “be brave” and carry out her plan quickly.
LEE: Maid demands trial for the murder of the employer, allegedly stabbed and cut almost 100 times
“My employer’s family is my target. DEATH !!!” wrote in an entry on May 12, 2016, a few weeks before the incident.
Daryati hid weapons around the house and incorporated another servant into her plan without fully divulging it.
On June 7, 2016, he confronted Mdm Seow in her room, dragged her into a bathroom, and repeatedly stabbed and cut her. It left almost 100 wounds on the woman.
When Mdm Seow’s husband opened the bathroom door with a screwdriver, Daryati attacked him armed with two knives.
Despite being stabbed in the neck, Mdm Seow’s husband dominated Daryati and she was later arrested. Both he and Daryati were taken to hospital, but Mdm Seow died of multiple head and neck injuries.
A psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health found that Daryati had been suffering from an adjustment disorder in the two weeks prior to the murder.
For committing murder under Section 300c, Daryati could be sentenced to death or life in prison. He cannot be spanked because he is a woman.
However, the prosecution confirmed on Monday that they would not face the death penalty if Daryati remained faithful to the agreed statement of facts.
Daryati is expected to speak in favor of the defense case next month.
