Maid jailed for scissors killing

A 25-year-old domestic maid from Myanmar got 13 years' jail yesterday for killing her employer's 87-year-old mother-in-law.

Than Than Win pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of culpable homicide for stabbing Yong Wan Lan with a pair of scissors at Springdale Condominium in Hindhede Walk, Bukit Timah, on March 4 last year.

Her charge was reduced from murder as she had been diagnosed by a psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health to be suffering from severe depression with psychotic symptoms at the time.

The maid had been working for the family for more than a year, and was alone at home with the elderly woman when she became increasingly angry over a scolding she received from Madam Yong that morning.

The maid got the largest pair of scissors she could find from a kitchen drawer, then repeatedly stabbed the senior, who was too frail to retaliate.

After killing Madam Yong, the maid washed herself in the bathroom with her clothes on. She then left the apartment, drenched and barefoot, and wandered around the estate. She got a saw from a parked truck and tried to cut her neck, but was stopped by a worker.

During sentencing, Justice Chan Seng Onn noted that the maid had viciously attacked a very elderly grandmother she was supposed to help look after.

The judge noted that she inflicted at least 21 stab wounds on Madam Yong, two of which were fatal injuries to her heart and lungs.

Culpable homicide carries a sentence of up to 20 years' jail or life imprisonment.

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