SINGAPORE — A 28-year-old foreign domestic worker was on Friday (April 23) given life imprisonment for the murder of her 59-year-old employer in 2016, after plotting with the family’s other domestic worker to retrieve her passport and flee back to Indonesia.

Daryati, who goes by only one name, was convicted of a capital murder charge in the High Court.

Midway through the trial, the prosecution amended the charge from one under Section 300(a) of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty, to one under Section 300(c), which carries either a life sentence or the death penalty. Prosecutors said that they would not seek the latter.

Daryati then admitted to intentionally stabbing Seow Kim Choo almost a hundred times at her semi-detached house in Lorong H Telok Kurau in Joo Chiat on June 7, 2016.

She said that she wanted to plead guilty but later changed her mind, claiming trial again on the defence of diminished responsibility in order to reduce her charge further to culpable homicide.

She argued that she suffered from persistent depressive disorder, which had substantially affected her mental responsibility for the killing acts.

However, Justice Valerie Thean rejected this on Friday, saying that her psychiatrist’s evidence did not stand up to scrutiny.

The prosecution then withdrew a second charge of attempted murder against Daryati, in relation to her attacking Seow’s husband, businessman Ong Thiam Soon, with a knife.

He had sustained injuries to his neck, which were visible during Seow’s funeral, and underwent surgery at Singapore General Hospital.

WHAT HAPPENED

Daryati had been employed by Seow for about two months at the time and had felt homesick. She also missed her lover, who was then working in Hong Kong.

A month before the murder, Daryati wrote in her diary: ”I must carry out this plan quickly. I have to be brave even though life is at stake. I am ready to face all risks/consequences, whatever the risk, I must be ready to accept it. I hope that this plan succeed and run smoothly. My employer's family is my target. DEATH!!!”

She then plotted with Don Hayati — the other Indonesian worker employed by the family — to rob their employer and retrieve her passport, which was kept in a locked safe in the master bedroom. This was so that she could return to Indonesia.

She also plotted to steal Seow’s money, which was stored in a locked drawer on the first floor.

On the day of the murder, she told Don Hayati to distract Mr Ong by talking to him, and told her to turn off the closed-circuit televison camera and electricity in the house at the appropriate time.

The court heard that the plan was for Daryati and Don Hayati to steal the money and escape while Mr Ong was busy restoring the electrical supply.

Daryati hid a kukri knife — which originated from Nepal and has a distinct recurve in the blade — in the master bedroom on the second floor.

She also hid a short knife in the bedroom’s attached toilet. She then waited for Seow’s two sons to leave the house and for her daughter-in-law and grandchildren to go to the third floor.

At around 8.30pm, Daryati took another knife from the storeroom, hid it in her pants and headed up to the master bedroom where Seow was alone. On the way up, Daryati said the code word “jaga bawah” ("watch below" in Bahasa Indonesia) to Don Hayati so that the latter would be ready to execute the plan.

In the master bedroom, Daryati confronted Seow with a knife and demanded her passport. When Seow shouted, Daryati pulled her into the toilet and shut the door. 

She then stabbed Seow until she was lying on the toilet floor in a pool of blood.

Retrieving the knife hidden under the toilet sink, Daryati stabbed Seow again after she saw her employer trying to pull herself up.

Seow was found with a total of 78 stab and incised wounds on her neck, head and face. A further 19 incised and stab wounds were found on her left upper limb. 

The autopsy report showed that she also suffered multiple facial fractures.

As Mr Ong entered the master bedroom and opened the toilet door, Daryati stabbed him on the neck. However, he managed to disarm her and pushed her to the ground.

As Mr Ong went to check on his wife, Daryati stabbed him in the neck again. He managed to restrain her and took her out of the toilet.

Seow’s daughter-in-law then called for an ambulance.