Her first appearance in court in November last year was for all of 15 minutes, marked by shouts and loud sobs. Her second day in the witness stand lasted a few hours the following day, but was cut short after she contradicted herself and appeared unable to recall much of her past.

The question of whether she would return to the stand was yesterday raised by one of the defence lawyers, Mr Tito Isaac.

Her lawyer R. S. Bajwa told the High Court that she was 'not in a position to give evidence'.

Mr Isaac then asked if this was because she was unable to attend court on medical grounds or if it was to avoid being grilled on the stand. Mr Bajwa replied that her psychiatrist, Dr Angelina Chan, would explain on Friday.

Associate Professor Ong Thiew Chai, a senior consultant with the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) - who first examined Madam Valli on Sept 3, 2004 - took the stand yesterday. He had diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder with depression and referred her to Dr Chan, his student.

Madam Valli was admitted to TTSH eight times between 2004 and last year. Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim, for the defence, produced medical records showing that she had gone to general practitioners for drugs while in hospital.

Mr Yim asked Prof Ong whether he was surprised that she had done this. He replied that, in retrospect, he was not, as she had asked for the sedative Stilnox, which he had refused to give her.

But he conceded that it was unusual for a patient to see GPs while in hospital and she was the only such patient he had come across in his 32 years of practice.

Mr Yim also showed Prof Ong a report by a private investigator who, on tailing Madam Valli for months, had found her normal. She also went out often.

This was at odds with how she portrayed herself to Prof Ong: that she feared going out and was constantly anxious. Prof Ong replied that her condition was such that she could be fearful one moment and be able to do things independently the next.

Also taking the stand yesterday was prominent criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan, who used to represent Madam Valli but later discharged himself.

He was called to corroborate the account of her 'sworn brother' Resham Singh, who testified earlier that one of Mr Isaac's lawyers had tried to wrest the case from him. Mr Anandan confirmed that Mr Singh had told him about this and said that he had laughed it off.

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