Mother of imprisoned maid abuser sentenced to 14 years in jail

She had joined daughter in torturing domestic helper from Myanmar to death

- Nadine Chua

The woman who joined her daughter in torturing a maid from Myanmar to death was sentenced to 14 years in jail on Monday.

Prema S. Naraynasamy, 64, who was present in court, had no reaction and looked down when Principal District Judge Toh Han Li issued the sentence.

Judge Toh said Prema's abuse of Ms Piang Ngaih Don, 24, took place over 15 distinct days. She used either her bare hands or various items to assault the maid during that time.

"The deceased is no longer with us to speak of her suffering, but footage from the CCTV (closed-circuit television) showed the shocking picture of the abuse and how emaciated and weak she was before her passing," said the judge.

After the sentence was meted out, Prema requested to make a phone call home. Her sentence will be backdated to her date of arrest on July 26, 2016.

In his submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Senthilkumaran Sabapathy noted the shocking and heinous nature of the crime and said this was one of Singapore's worst maid abuse cases.

He said there was an exceptionally high level of culpability on Prema's part and that the abuse involved a high degree of physical and psychological harm.