SINGAPORE : The Court of Appeal has decided to uphold the life
sentence of an Indonesian maid, who was found guilty of killing her
employer's mother.
Indonesian maid Purwanti Parji, who was only 17 at the time of the
murder , was found guilty last September of killing 57-year-old
Madam Har Chit Heang.
Purwanti had strangled Madam Har while she slept and later slit the
woman's wrist to make it look like suicide.
In court, her lawyers had painted the picture of an abused maid who
murdered her employer in a fit of anger after being constantly
nagged at and deprived of food.
They said she was also made to work long hours.
But Judicial commissioner V K Rajah who presided over the case had
said maid abuse should not be used to justify her crime, and
sentenced her to life in jail.
Purwanti's defence lawyers found the sentence too excessive and
appealed for it to be reduced to ten years.
"As far as our legal research shows, prior to this case, no
17-year-old has been sent to life inprisonment and especially a
17-year-old who has no previous convictions. This is the first
offence so that's why we appealed. The court of appeal had said in
an earlier case that young people should not be sent for life
imprisonment if possible," said defence lawyer Subhas
Anandan.
The Court of Appeal however, dismissed their appeal. It will be
explaining why it is doing so later.
"In this particular case, the facts are somewhat different because
it was premedidation and she kills somebody who was sleeping. There
was no provocation so I believe maybe that's what made the Court of
Appeal dismissed our appeal," added Anandan.
But Purwanti's lawyers are not giving up.
Purwanti's lawyers will make a last ditch attempt to have her
sentence reduced to ten years as they have received instructions
from the Indonesian embassy to write in to the President to state
their case.
Otherwise, Purwanti is expected to spend at least 20 years behind
bars. - CNA