Couple found dead in Geylang hotel: Passion turns to paranoia

They were, it seemed, passionately in love.

She had his name tattooed across her chest. He told a colleague that he loved her very much and would do anything for her.

But it ended in tragedy when their bodies were found in a Geylang hotel room on Feb 1.

She had several injuries on her body, including a fatal stab wound on her neck. His body was found hanging in the bathroom, a coroner's inquiry into their deaths was told yesterday.

A handwritten note found in his bag gave an insight into how their love had descended into murderous jealousy.

It told of a spurned lover who was so consumed by suspicion she was seeing other men that he made up a list to question her about them. He even threatened to cut off her fingers one by one.

MENACING NOTE

At one point, he wrote: "I kill you. I know everything."

It was under these circumstances that Indian national Chinnasamy Baskar, 30, met Indonesian Ruli Widyawati, 28, at Hotel 81 Palace in Geylang on that fateful Sunday.

Investigation officer Senior Staff Sergeant Aliden Hamad told State Coroner Marvin Bay that based on the available evidence, he believed that Mr Chinnasamy, a construction worker, had killed Ms Ruli, a domestic worker, before hanging himself.

When the hotel manager checked on them that evening, Ms Ruli was covered in blood and lying motionless on the floor. She was facing upwards, with a towel placed over her body.

Mr Chinnasamy's body was found hanging above the toilet bowl.

Loose notes were scattered on the floor, smeared with blood. A kitchen knife with a 12cm blade was found at the scene.

The handwritten note was a sign of jealousy and relationship issues, Senior Staff Sgt Aliden said.

It is not clear when the couple met, but Mr Chinnasamy's direct supervisor found out about their relationship in August 2012.

Ms Ruli had texted him to tell Mr Chinnasamy to stop going to her employer's home to disturb her. It foreshadowed what was to come.

Her then-employer knew her to be married with two children in Indonesia, but also that she had a male Indian friend.

Ms Ruli even had Mr Chinnasamy's first name, Baskar, inked across her chest, Senior Staff Sgt Aliden said.

Money also figured prominently in their relationship. Mr Chinnasamy's colleague and roommate said he gave Ms Ruli money whenever she asked.

Last November, Mr Chinnasamy borrowed $200 from him to give to her.

When told that he should not give Ms Ruli so much money, Mr Chinnasamy said he loved her very much and would do anything for her.

CRACKS

Last December, more cracks in their relationship appeared when Ms Ruli texted her boyfriend's supervisor to ask him not to let Mr Chinnasamy go to Indonesia on Chinese New Year.

She said he had threatened to kill her and her family.

The couple often quarrelled over the phone in the days leading to their deaths, his roommate said. Mr Chinnasamy said he would kill Ms Ruli if he caught her cheating on him, he added.

On Jan 28, the couple broke up.

Three days later, at 9.50am, they checked into Room 325 at Hotel 81 Palace.

The roommate said Mr Chinnasamy had planned to hand his ex-girlfriend some money.

About 1½ hours later, Ms Ruli was heard crying in the room. A cleaner also heard the pair quarrelling, but thought nothing of it as such incidents are common at the hotel.

At about 3.30pm, Mr Chinnasamy was seen in the hotel's CCTV footage pacing the corridor outside the room, said Senior Staff Sgt Aliden.

The court also heard that Mr Chinnasamy had asked the cleaner about extending his room stay beyond the original six hours.

A while later, she saw a red stain where he had been standing. She could not clean it off, but thought nothing of it.

As she pushed her cleaning trolley past Room 325, she no longer heard quarrelling and assumed the couple had reconciled.

In the evening, the hotel manager entered the room with a master key after his attempts to check if they needed to extend their stay overnight went unanswered.

He then called the police, saying: "One guest die in the room. Whole room got blood."

An autopsy report revealed 34 external injuries on Ms Ruli's head, neck, torso and four limbs.

The fatal blow was a 12cm by 3cm transverse gaping incision 4cm above her jugular notch (the mid-point of the two collar bones under the chin).

Mr Chinnasamy had a ligature mark of hanging and some external injuries.

A toxicology report revealed that he had 100mg per 100ml of ethanol in his blood and 163mg per 100ml of ethanol in his urine.

Empty beer cans were found in the room but it is not clear when the beer was consumed.

There was no trace of ethanol in Ms Ruli's blood.

Asking for more effort to extract information from Ms Ruli's phone, Mr Bay adjourned the hearing to Aug 20.

LIST OF QUESTIONS

On that fateful day Mr Chinnasamy Baskar met Ms Ruli Widyawati, he had a handwritten note in his sling bag.

This is what he wrote:

"I tell u one talk Alibaba. I kill you. I know everything.

1. 8358xxxx this sim card who buy for you, until how long u use that sim.

2. U have bf I know this 'Akas' or who?

3. Who fine that new boss.

4. U have how many off day.

5. I know u still communicate with Saiful Azam. U with that man how long?

6. New year 2015 u call 1 hour who?

7. I tell u u talk Alibaba I cut u finger one by one.

8. U tell me everything before u say sorry to me I forgive 100 per cent U know me only."

fjieying@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on August 5, 2015.
Get The New Paper for more stories.