Geylang deaths: Maid's throat cut, man found hanged

SINGAPORE - Ms Ruli Widyawati's employer was expecting her to return home on Sunday evening but, instead, got a call at midnight saying the Indonesian maid, 29, had been found dead in a hotel room in Geylang with her throat cut.

Also discovered in the same third-floor room at Hotel 81 Palace in Lorong 16, according to reports in the Chinese newspapers Shin Min Daily News and Lianhe Wanbao yesterday, was Mr Chinnasamy Baskar, 31, a construction worker from India, who was found hanged.

Ms Ruli was married with two young children in Indonesia. Mr Chinnasamy was not married.

Police received a call at about 7.45pm on Sunday. The pair, who were pronounced dead by paramedics, had reportedly checked in at around 5pm, and were supposed to check out by 7pm.

A hotel employee discovered their bodies and called the police.

Ms Ruli had worked in Singapore before and had just returned last month with another agency. The owner of the agency, who did not want to be named, told The Straits Times he was shocked as she had a good record.

The Indonesian Embassy said it had informed her family and would fly her body to her home town in Solo, near Yogyakarta, tomorrow. Her children are said to be 10 and six years old.

Her employer, who declined to be named, told Lianhe Wanbao yesterday she had been hired recently.

Mr Chinnasamy's employer, who also did not want to be named, said the dead man had been in Singapore for about five years, and that he was hard-working.

The High Commission of India said that it was in touch with Mr Chinnasamy's family and would also work with a casket operator to send back his body after police investigations are completed.

Police have classified the case as unnatural deaths.

limyihan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 03, 2015.
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