Couple jailed 24 years for starving maid to death

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Couple jailed 24 years for starving maid to death
Posted on 16 May 2013 - 02:26pm



GEORGE TOWN (May 16, 2013): The High Court here sentenced a couple to 24 years imprisonment after they were found guilty of causing the death of their Cambodian maid last year.

Judge Datuk Zamani Abdul Rahim, in reading out the judgement, found that hardware store owner Soh Chew Tong, 44 and wife Chin Chui Ling, 41, guilty of causing the death of the 24-year old Cambodian maid Mey Sichan who was under their custody, under the amended charge of Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code for culpable homicide, not amounting to murder.

The offence was committed at 2190, Taman Asas Murni, Jalan Bukit Minyak in Bukit Mertajam between Jan 1 and Apr 1, 2012. The charge had been amended from Section 302 of the same Code for murder which carries the mandatory death sentence early this year.

Zamani said that the case has brought a bad image to the country.

"Now, due to this case, the Cambodian government refuses to send its (maids) to Malaysia. 'Sebab nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga' (One bad apple spoils the bunch)," he said.

He added that the public should not resort to torturing if they are not happy with their maids' services.

"I have a maid myself. If I did not like my maid, I just need to send her off, not torture her," Zamani said after reading out the sentence here today.

Zamani ordered the sentence be carried out from the date both the accused were arrested, which is on Apr 1 last year.

Sichan, had been working for the couple since September 2011 before she was discovered dead on the second floor of the three-storey building on Apr 1 by the authorities.

Based on the pathology report, the 148cm woman who weighs 44kg when she was employed, only weighed 26.1kg, equivalent to the Body Mass Index (BMI) of 11.9 which falls under the 'severe thinness' category.

Zamani added that based the evidence presented in court showed that Mey was denied food and water for a long period of time.

"In totality, the deceased had insufficient food, neglected and due to high stress and sustained injuries which further aggravated her gastric ulcer that led to acute peritonitis that had caused her death," he said.

Zamani added that based on the testimony of a witness who had taken stand, the death could have been prevented if she was treated for her gastric ulcer problem at a clinic located some 30 meters away from the shophouse a week before her demise.

During mitigation, Soh and Chin's counsel Naizatul Zamiran Karizaman pleaded for a lighter sentence to both the accused as it was their first offence, and that they did not commit any criminal offence.

"They have three children aged 17, 10 and three years old.

"I call on for a minimum punishment which is fitting for my client," she said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Guat Cheng had demanded for the maximum punishment of 30 years to be meted out as this case was of public interest.

After the court was dismissed, both accused were seen crying, before being led out by the police.


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