Past abuse pushes RI maids to kill Singaporean: Lawyers
Past abuse pushes RI maids to kill Singaporean: Lawyers
Wee Sui Lee, Associated Press/Singapore
Lawyers for two young Indonesian maids who confessed to killing a Singaporean employer tried on Thursday to save their clients from possible execution, claiming mental anguish from abuse pushed them to kill.
Juminem, 20, and 17-year-old Siti Aminah are accused of murdering Esther Ang Imm Suan, Juminem's employer, in March last year by suffocating her with a pillow and bludgeoning her with a wine bottle.
"Reactive depression. Brought about by six months of degrading physical and emotional abuse," Juminem's lawyer, Jimmy Yim, said in closing arguments.
Yim is asking the court to reduce the charge of murder, which carries a mandatory death sentence, to the charge of culpable homicide. If they are charged with culpable homicide, they face up to 10 years in jail.
Juminem endured constant verbal and physical abuse from Ang, who slapped her, hit her with a television remote control, and fined her if she made mistakes in her work, her lawyer said.
"Given that she suffered so badly under the hands of her employer, she shouldn't be given the full punishment," Yim said. "Here was a classic situation: she was in a pressure cooker."
Siti Aminah's lawyers said Ang also abused her.
Juminem's diaries, which detailed her employer's alleged abuse, formed a major part of the evidence submitted by her lawyer.
The two-month trial has frequently been interrupted, once when Siti Aminah began mumbling incoherently and doctors who examined her said the trial had taken a toll on her mental health. On Thursday, Siti fell asleep in court, prompting Judge Choo Han Teck to adjourn briefly.
Final submissions end on Friday and a verdict is expected in two weeks.
Three other Indonesian maids who were convicted of murder or manslaughter in separate cases in the past year received prison terms.
Singapore employs about 140,000 foreign maids, who flock to the wealthy city-state to escape poverty. Most are from the Philippines and Indonesia, with the rest from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.