Mother and daughter charged with murdering Myanmar domestic worker

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Mother and daughter charged with murdering Myanmar domestic worker

A CID officer sits between Gaiyathiri Murugayan (left) and her mother Prema Naraynasamy, who were charged in court on Thursday (July 28) with murdering their Myanmar domestic worker at their home in Bishan earlier this week.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published 9 hours ago
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

SINGAPORE - A woman and her mother were charged in court on Thursday (July 28) with murdering their Myanmar domestic worker at their home in Bishan earlier this week.

No plea was taken from Gaiyathiri Murugayan, 36, and Prema S. Naraynasamy, 58, both housewives.

They are alleged to have committed murder by causing the death of Ms Piang Ngaih Don, 24, at their ninth-floor flat at Block 145, Bishan Street 11, between July 25 and 26.

The pair was arrested on Wednesday (July 27).

The prosecution applied for them to be remanded at Central police division with permission to take them out for investigation.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamed Faizal said they were not ready to take a plea at the moment.

Both did not display any emotion when the charge was read to them in Tamil separately.

They will be back in court on Aug 4.

If convicted, they face the death penalty.

In a statement on Thursday, the police said it had received a call on Tuesday at 11.03am requesting for assistance at Block 145, Bishan Street 11.

Upon arrival, the victim was found motionless and pronounced dead at the scene. The case was classified as an unnatural death, the statement said.

 

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Bishan murder suspects taken to HDB flat for investigations

Prema Naraynasamy being taken back to her home at Block 145, Bishan Street 11, by police for investigations on Aug 3, 2016.ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

Published 8 hours ago
Ng Huiwen

SINGAPORE - Shoulders hunched, heads bowed low and faces hidden by their hair, a mother and daughter pair accused of killing their Myanmar maid avoided eye contact as they were taken to a Bishan HDB flat for investigations on Wednesday (Aug 3) afternoon.

Housewife Prema Naraynasamy, 58, and Gaiyathiri Murugayan, 36, are accused of killing Ms Piang Ngaih Don, a 24-year-old mother of a young child, in a ninth-floor flat at Block 145, Bishan Street 11, some time between July 25 and 26. It is not yet known how she died.

The pair arrived in a white van at about 2.30pm, after which police officers led Gaiyathiri to the flat, while her mother remained in the vehicle.
Bishan murder suspects at the crime scene (Part 1)

[video=youtube;cJVxk8_mBuw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJVxk8_mBuw[/video]

Dressed in a red polo shirt and navy shorts, Gaiyathiri appeared shaken as she stepped out of the van. She hung her head low, walking in shuffled steps, till she disappeared into the flat minutes later.
Bishan murder suspects at the crime scene (Part 2)

[video=youtube;TrAtbFklZ1U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrAtbFklZ1U[/video]

She had restraints on her arms and feet and she was supported by a female police officer.

Investigators escorted her out the flat about 90 minutes later, taking along with them a blue pail and broom wrapped in brown paper as evidence.

Both mother and daughter remained quiet as they briefly crossed paths at the carpark, while Prema was being taken to the flat held by another female officer.
Bishan murder suspect Prema Naraynasamy at the crime scene

She was dressed in the same attire, and she similarly kept her face shrouded by her wavy hair. Unlike her daughter, Prema left her transparent slippers at the doorstep before entering the flat.

About half an hour later, police investigators were seen leaving with several bags of evidence. The suspects left the scene in the van shortly after.

They were arrested last Wednesday, a day after police were alerted to the case. Ms Piang was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both women are due to appear in court on Thursday. If convicted of murder, they face the death penalty.

 

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CID officer looks macham fish monger in sembawang wet market.

 

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09-79 ok this unit will be doomed. No one will buy, unless some gong kia FT

 

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Mother and daughter charged with maid's murder remanded for another week

Police officers escorting Gaiyathiri Murugayan (left, in red) and Prema Naraynasamy (right, in red) during investigations, on Aug 3, 2016. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

Published 10 hours ago
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

SINGAPORE - A mother and daughter who were charged last week with the murder of their Myanmar domestic worker at their flat in Bishan were remanded another week for investigation.

Gaiyathiri Murugayan, 36, and Prema S. Naraynasamy, 58 - both housewives - allegedly murdered their maid Ms Piang Ngaih Don, 24, at their ninth-floor flat at Block 145, Bishan Street 11, between July 25 and 26.

Ms Piang, who has a young child, had worked for the family for about a year.

Police had received a call at about 11am on July 26 for assistance. When police arrived, Ms Piang was found motionless and pronounced dead at the scene.

In court on Thursday (Aug 4), Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamed Faizal requested that Gaiyathiri and Prema be remanded for another week for investigation.

Their lawyer, Mr Sunil Sudheesan, who was briefed by family members earlier this week, applied for access to his clients, but the prosecutor objected.

DPP Faizal said investigations were still in their "infancy". He said the pair were taken back to their flat on Wednesday (Aug 3) and follow-up investigations were required. He also said some exhibits were seized and these needed further follow-ups as well.

Mr Sunil then asked how access to counsel would impede police investigation.

DPP Faizal said the question was to balance the accused persons' rights against public interest. He added that since it had been only seven days since the mother and daughter were charged, the application for access to counsel ought to be dismissed.

District Judge Christopher Goh turned down Mr Sunil's application for access and ordered that the mother and daughter be remanded until Aug 11 at Central police division.

But he allowed Mr Sunil's other application for the Law Society's pamphlet of rights to be given to his clients to read before they were taken away.

Gaiyathiri asked the judge if she could see her family members. When Judge Goh said no, she asked if she could at least speak to her husband in court "now". The judge told her: "Not for now."

If convicted of murder, the pair face the death penalty.

 

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Husband of murder suspect charged with maid abuse

Kevin Chelvam, husband of Gaiyathiri Murugayan (left, in red), was accused of removing evidence that could otherwise incriminate her and her mother Prema Naraynasamy (right, in red) in the murder of their maid.ST PHOTO: SEAH
KWANG PENG

Published 10 hours ago
Danson Cheong

SINGAPORE - In July, a 37-year-old police officer's wife and mother-in-law were charged with murdering their Myanmar domestic worker.

On Thursday (Aug 11), Kevin Chelvam was himself accused of maid abuse and removing evidence that could otherwise incriminate the two suspects.

Chelvam faces four charges - two of abusing Ms Piang Ngaih Don, 24, one of giving false testimony to a police officer, and another of removing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras from his home.

His wife Gaiyathiri Murugayan, 36, and mother-in-law Prema Naraynasamy, 58, allegedly killed Ms Piang in a ninth-floor flat at Block 145, Bishan Street 11 some time between July 25 and 26.

Police had received a call at about 11am on July 26 for assistance.

When they arrived, Ms Piang - the mother of a three-year-old boy -was found motionless and pronounced dead at the scene.

Mother and daughter charged with maid's murder remanded for another week

Chelvam is himself accused of abusing the maid. He allegedly hit her left shoulder with a toy bat on July 23.

A day later, he allegedly hurt her again by grabbing her hair, lifting her body off the ground in the process.

On July 26, after the alleged murder, Chelvam also allegedly removed a CCTV recorder system from his home in a bid to remove evidence of the crime.

But he told a Criminal Investigation Officer that same day that the CCTV cameras were removed half a year ago at the request of one of his flat tenants.

This caused the officer to "cease searching for CCTV evidence that is relevant to the investigation", read the charge.

It is understood that Chelvam has since been suspended from service.

He is out on bail and will next appear in Court on Sept 8.

Prema and Gaiyathiri were also in court yesterday, where they were ordered to be remanded at the Changi Medical Centre for psychiatric evaluation.

The court heard that the women met their family members for about 45 minutes on Wednesday.

Yesterday, they spoke with their lawyer Mr Sunil Sudheesan for about five minutes before being led away.

They will appear in court again on Sept 1.