Domestic Helper Who Murdered Elderly Couple in Bedok Serving 20-Year Imprisonment In Indonesia

Back in 2017, a grisly crime happened in Bedok.

An elderly couple, 79-year-old Chia Ngim Fong and his wife, 78-year-old Chin Sek Fah were discovered tied up and motionless in their flat on the afternoon of 21 Jun 2017.

Their domestic worker, Khasanah, who had been working with them for about a month, was nowhere to be found.

Hit Hard With A Blunt Object

At around 3.40pm, the police reportedly received a call for help.

On 1 Sep 2020, Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Mahathir testified in court that the cause of death for Chia was blunt force trauma to the head.

His wife, Chin, had died from similar injuries to the chest and head.

ASP Mahathir added that they managed to lift bloody fingerprints from the master bedroom toilet.

The fingerprint belonged to Khasanah but it wasn’t her blood. It was Chia’s.

Escape & Arrest

Khasanah, then, was 41 years old.

On the same day, she had quickly gone to the Harbourfront Cruise Centre and left Singapore at about 1.20pm.

According to reports, she was arrested by the Indonesian police on 28 Jun 2017, about a week after she fled from Singapore.

She was reportedly overheard in an internet cafe when talking about her crime on the phone.

Khasanah had reportedly said that she wants to “repent and stay in a religious school”.

A member of the public there had apparently tipped off the police who managed to arrest her in Tungkal Ilir, in Jambi province in Sumatra after raiding her room at Hotel Nanber.

S’pore Authorities Contacted, Stolen Belongings Recovered

When she was arrested, the Indonesian National police recovered belongings that she had stolen when fleeing Singapore.

They include:

• 2 iPhones
• 1 Laptop
• Cash in different currencies amounting to no more than $300
• A jade bracelet
• A gold necklace

She Had Wanted To Flee The Place

After her arrest, she gave two statements to the Indonesian National Police.

ASP Mahathir said that she admitted to preparing strings to tie up the couple and assaulted the couple to flee from the flat.

In May 2018, Khasanah was sentenced to life imprisonment after she was found guilty of premeditated murder and theft.

In August 2019, however, she managed to successfully appeal for her sentence to be reduced to 20 years instead.

As for those wondering why she’s serving her punishment in Indonesia, it’s because of this.

According to TODAY, the reason why Khasanah was serving her sentence in Indonesia instead of being extradited to Singapore is because of Indonesia’s principle of “personaliteit”.

Basically, this means that any Indonesian who were caught in the country for committing a crime overseas would be tried and punished in Indonesia instead of being extradited.

Findings will be issued on Wednesday.