Squabbles between a domestic helper and their employer are not uncommon.
After all, when you’re living with someone and interacting with them on a daily basis, conflict is bound to arise.
Typically, when you disagree with your employer, you might scold them, or even fling a few expletives their way.
One Indonesian maid, however, chose a slightly more sociopathic option: stabbing her employer 94 times.
Angry She Wasn’t Allowed to Return Home
The helper, Daryati, started working for Madam Seow Kim Choo and her family at their Telok Kurau house on 13 April, 2016.
She said she was treated well, but grew homesick and missed her lover Indah, who was working in Hong Kong as a domestic helper.
Less than two months after starting work, Daryati requested to return home because she was worried about her family, who couldn’t be contacted.
But Madam Seow didn’t give in to the request, which angered Daryati.
So, she concocted a plan to retrieve her passport, which was kept in a locked safe in the master bedroom.
She also planned to steal money from Madam Seow so she could start a business when she returned to Indonesia.
The Indonesian prepared for the confrontation by sharpening one knife and hiding another in a basket under the sink of a toilet.
She later took a long knife from the storeroom before confronting Madam Seow, but maintains that she didn’t intend to kill her, and was only using the knife to scare her employer into handing over her money.
But she ended up using the knife, and many times at that.
The 28-year-old first slit and stabbed Madam Seow’s neck, leaving her to bleed out on the toilet floor. She then retrieved the knife she had hidden earlier, and continued stabbing the 59-year-old.
Daryati reportedly used so much force that at least three of the blows caused fractures to the victim’s face.
She later attacked Madam Seow’s husband when he entered the room, slashing his neck, but fortunately for him, he survived.
Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
When Madam Seow’s body was examined, 94 knife wounds were found, most of which were on her head and neck.
While Daryati originally faced a charge for killing with the intention to cause death – which carries the mandatory death penalty – her charge was later reduced.
The 28-year-old did not deny killing her employer but said she suffered from persistent depressive disorder with intermittent major depressive disorder, which was confirmed by Dr Tommy Tan.
The prosecution’s expert, Dr Jaydip Sarkar, however, said Daryati was not suffering from any mental disorder at the time.
He pointed to the fact that Daryati was able to conceal various weapons around the house before her attack as evidence of her mental competence.
And the judge seems to have agreed with this assessment.
The High Court convicted Daryati of murdering Madam Seow and sentenced her on Friday (23 Apr) to life imprisonment.
After her conviction, the prosecution withdrew a stood-down charge of attempted murder of Mr Ong Thiam Soon, Madam Seow’s husband.
Featured Image: Google Maps
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