AN INDONESIAN maid who intially faced the maximum sentence of
life in jail for trying to murder her employer's daughter has had
the charge reduced.
Kumaeroh - who, like some Indonesians, goes by only one name -
allegedly stabbed the seven-year-old and slashed the girl's
wrists.
The 25-year-old maid now faces a lesser charge of attempted
culpable homicide, which carries a maximum of 15 years in jail. No
reason was given for the reduced charge.
She is accused of stabbing the girl several times in the abdomen
and back with a kitchen knife, then slashing her wrists with a
chopper at about noon on Sept 23, 2009. The attack was said to have
taken place in the flar where they lived.
The girl, who was reported at the time to be in a stable
condition in hospital, cannot be named as she is a minor.
Yesterday, at a preliminary inquiry to determine if there were
sufficient grounds for the maid to be tried in the High Court,
a magistrate's court heard Kumaeroh had indicated that she would be
pleading guilty to the lesser charge.
A hearing date for her plea to be taken before the High Court
judge has been set for July 11.
(Taken from The Straits Times, Wednesday, June 1 2011, Page
B6)