An Indonesian maid who punched a baby in the neck, causing her death, before leaving the house to meet her visiting family, was sentenced to seven years' jail on Thursday (Nov 22).
Maryani Usman Utar, 25, pleaded guilty to one charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for causing the death of Richelle Teo Yan Jia, who was a year old in May 2016.
The Teo family was Maryani's first Singaporean employers. She began work for Teo Kok Eng, 46, and his wife in January 2015, and her main priority was to care for Richelle.
Past midnight on May 8 2016, Maryani was about to fall asleep when she heard a "thud", followed by crying from the baby, whom she slept with on a bed.
Maryani looked down and saw the baby face down on the floor. She picked her up and patted her, coaxing the baby to sleep in about half an hour, the court heard.
However, the baby woke Maryani up with her cries at about 2am. Maryani fed the child milk, after which the baby vomited, staining her own clothes and Maryani's.
Richelle started to cry, with her cries growing louder as Maryani patted her. She patted the child "for what felt like a very long time" but to no avail, the prosecution said.
Maryani felt "very angry as she was very sleepy", the court heard.
She then punched the child on the left side of her neck with all her strength, in order to stop Richelle from crying and to vent her anger over her situation and the anger she felt towards Richelle's mother Mrs Teo.
According to her defence lawyer, Maryani had twice asked her maid agency for a transfer as she could not bear with the workload, but was unsuccessful. She also felt stress from working for Mrs Teo, who placed her under "close scrutiny" and scolded her.
After being punched, Richelle cried even louder. Maryani gripped the back of the infant's neck with all her strength for approximately half an hour, while simultaneously pressing her right fist against the side of Richelle's neck.
She did this until Richelle stopped crying, releasing her grip only after and when Richelle closed her eyes.
After this, Maryani placed the baby on the bed and washed Richelle's clothes, before changing out of her own soiled shirt and going to sleep without checking on Richelle's condition.
Later that morning, Maryani left the house at about 7.50am for her day off to meet her family members, who were visiting her for the first time in Singapore.
RICHELLE'S FATHER FINDS HER COLD, NOT BREATHING
Richelle's father, Mr Teo Kok Eng, checked on her at about 9am as it was her usual feeding time.
He saw that the left side of his daughter's face was darkened, and that her left arm and leg were darker than her right limbs.
He touched his daughter's left arm and leg and found that they were cold, before placing his finger below Richelle's nostrils and found that there was no breathing.
Panicking, he carried Richelle out of the bedroom, calling his wife and later the police. While waiting for an ambulance, they spotted their neighbours and asked them to take Richelle to hospital.
Richelle was pronounced dead shortly past 10am that same day.
At about 1pm, Maryani was found near Merlion Park and later arrested.
An autopsy report could not ascertain Richelle's cause of death, but found that death from an unnatural cause such as manual compression of neck could not be excluded.
A psychiatric report by a consultant with the Institute of Mental Health found that Maryani was suffering from depressive disorder of at least moderate intensity in the weeks and months leading up to the incident.
She had also experienced acute stress reaction in the days immediately before the incident and the clinical phenomenon of dissociation at the time of the offence. However, she was assessed as being not of unsound mind and was deemed fit to plead in court.
ATTACK "VICIOUS AND SUSTAINED": PROSECUTORS
Deputy public prosecutors Bhajanvir Singh and Kelly Ho asked for a sentence of at least eight years' jail for what they called "a senseless killing of a young infant who was completely defenceless", citing three aggravating factors.
First, Ms Ho said, the attack was "vicious and sustained", aimed at a vulnerable part of Richelle's body. The act was "clearly disproportionate" given how vulnerable and fragile a one-year-old is, Ms Ho added.
"The accused did not stop even when Richelle had stopped crying," she said.
Second, the attack was "wholly unprovoked", as all Richelle did "was to do what babies normally do, which is to cry", Ms Ho said.
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