By Arul John

HER second son's strange behaviour puzzled her.

Madam M Saroja, a housewife, told the High Court yesterday how Pathip Selvan Sugumaran, 23, the second of her four children from a previous marriage, came home at 7.30am on 7 Jul last year.

He told her he was unwell and then changed from his work uniform into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before leaving home.

About nine hours later, Pathip Selvan, who is also called Baby, Marsiling Baby and Woodlands Baby, returned home crying.

Madam Saroja said: "He started hugging me and holding my legs. He said that he wanted to commit suicide.

"He also said that his girlfriend had played him out. I asked him what had happened but he did not say anything. He just continued crying."

Despite Madam Saroja's consoling her son and telling him that they could talk about the matter, she said Pathip Selvan changed his clothes and then left home again.

The "girlfriend" he referred to was probably Jeevitha Panippan (above), 18, whom Madam Saroja said she met for the first time in March last year.

At that time, she said her son called her "Ashley".

Pathip Selvan is on trial for allegedly murdering Jeevitha between 8.20pm and 9.30pm on 7 Jul last year on the pavement of the SP Powergrid sub-station opposite Block 154 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5.

If found guilty, he will be hanged.

About 9.30pm on 7 July last year, five hours after he left home the second time, Madam Saroja said Pathip Selvan called and asked her to get ready a change of clothes for him because he was going to Malaysia to do some shopping.

Despite her saying that it was late and his passport had expired, he insisted in going to Malaysia and she gave in.

She packed a pair of trousers and a T-shirt and waited for Pathip Selvan, who was arriving by taxi, at a bus-stop near their home.

When the taxi arrived, she boarded it and they headed for Woodlands Checkpoint.

A short distance from the checkpoint, she alighted from the taxi and walked there because of a traffic jam.

She said: "While we were walking close to a circular multi-storey carpark, Baby said that he wanted to change his clothes and left for a short while. When he returned, he had already changed.

"The clothes he wore earlier were inside the plastic bag he was carrying."

At the checkpoint, she lied to the immigration officer that he needed an entry permit to go to Malaysia as his grandmother had died.

He got the permit and mother and son then went to Johor Baru by bus. Once there, Madam Saroja, who wanted to do some shopping there too, changed $100 into ringgit and gave it to her son.

But while they were walking past a temple, he told her he was going to buy something, took the plastic bag containing his clothes from her and disappeared.

When he did not return, she said: "I started thinking about Baby's conduct and I thought that he might have had a fight with someone. It was unusual for him to force me to take him to Johor Baru."

She said she returned to Singapore and tried calling him but his handphone was switched off.

A check with relatives also turned up nothing.

The day after their trip to Malaysia, four police officers arrived at Madam Saroja's flat. Coincidentally, Pathip Selvan called home at about the same time.

Confessed

When she told him about the police officers, she said he told her that he had murdered Ashley.

She said: "He did not tell me more. I then told Baby to return home but he refused.

"He said that he wanted to commit suicide. I told him that I did not want him to commit suicide and we all tried to convince him to return home."

She said he told her he was near Woodlands Checkpoint at the time and he eventually told her that he would turn himself in.

After telling the police officers about her son's intention to surrender, one of them was informed that he had been detained at the checkpoint.

The trial continues today.

Things soured after a month

SHE was initially happy in her relationship with Pathip Selvan, but things soured later.

Yesterday, two of Jeevitha's friends, Uthiswaran Hendry Asirvatham, a full-time NS man, and Viknesh Rajandran, who is unemployed, told the court about the relationship.

Viknesh, 17, said: "About a month thereafter, she started having quarrels with Baby. She started complaining to me that he would get angry at her easily and was over-possessive.

"She told me that whenever she went out, she would have to inform Baby where she was going and what time she would be returning home. Baby would tell her what time she should be back at home and had to call him when she returned."

Yesterday, Viknesh also told the court how Pathip Selvan would get angry when Jeevitha did not do what he wanted her to.

He added that she wanted to break up but he threatened to harm another friend of theirs, Mr Kartigesan Yanamani.
Mr Kartigesan testified yesterday how some time in May last year, when Jeevitha was staying in his flat, he heard knocks on his door.

When he opened it, he saw Pathip Selvan standing outside with a knife in his right hand.

Mr Kartigesan, who is currently unemployed, said Pathip Selvan appeared angry and she ran into the bedroom and locked the door as soon as she saw him.

He said: "Baby told me that he wanted to talk to Jeevitha. I told him to calm down but he started creating a scene outside my apartment.

"Afterwards, he calmed down and I allowed him into my apartment. He was still holding the knife when he went to the bedroom and asked Jeevitha to open the door but she refused.

"He then threatened to stab me, and he said that so Jeevitha would be scared and open the door."

Upon hearing the threat, Mr Kartigesan said, she opened the door and Pathip Selvan went in and closed the door after him.

Mr Kartigesan said Jeevitha and Pathip Selvan left the flat with him the next day when he left for work.

He said: "I don't know what happened to the knife. Later, she called me at work and said Baby tried to rape her (in the room) that night.

"He also threatened to beat her."

This article was first published in The New Paper.