Maid’s Body Found Tied To A Tree In Tampines; Husband Already Fled The Country

People in abusive relationships often can’t tell they’re in one because the signs can be insidious.

It usually starts off with emotional abuse, slowly evolving into verbal abuse, leading to physical abuse later on.

When you’re emotionally attached to someone, it can be hard to view them as the vicious partner that they are. And once you decided enough is enough, it may be too late.

Maid’s dead body found

That’s exactly what happened to Madam Jonalyn Alvarez Raviz, a 34-year-old maid working in Singapore.

Raviz’s decomposed body was found tied to a tree near a footpath along Tampines Road.

Her husband, Mr Raju Dhaly, who is from Bangladesh, fled to his native country a day after her death.

Dhaly had been working in Singapore as a maintenance worker.

Warning signs

According to The NewPaper, Raviz had been working as a domestic worker for her most recent employer since October 2016.

The 34-year-old maid had married Dhaly in 2015, and the couple would meet every Sunday.

Raviz, however, was unhappy in her marriage.

She told her employer that her husband was abusive, adulterous, and often took her salary.

Because of this, Raviz wanted to divorce Dhaly and planned to return to the Philippines without informing him.

However, her employer revealed in court that Dhaly had threatened to kill her if she left him.

While there is no conclusive evidence as of yet, there’s a good reason to believe Dhaly is the perpetrator.

Timeline

• On 2 Sept last year, Dhaly had boarded a train at Clementi carrying a yellow-strapped sling bag
• Raviz left her employer’s home at 8:30 a.m. that day and met her husband at Pasir Ris bus interchange around 9:00 a.m.
• Around 3:00 p.m., they were seen walking out of Pasir Ris Park
• They then boarded a train to Tampines and took a bus from there
• EZ-Link data revealed Madam Raviz alighted from the bus around 4:20 p.m. on Tampines Road, before Defu Lane 2
• Shortly after, her husband took a taxi alone from Defu Lane 1 and arrived at his dormitory
• Dhaly was no longer carrying the yellow-strapped sling bag when he arrived at his dormitory
• The maintenance worker then purchased a flight ticket for Bangladesh and left with a luggage bag
• He later informed one of his colleagues that he wouldn’t be returning to the dormitory
• The next day, he took a flight to Bangladesh without informing anyone

Police Alerted & Started Investigating

After Raviz’s employer filed a missing person report, the police searched the forested area along Tampines Road after gathering information about their movements that day.

Three days later, they found Raviz’s decomposed body among thick vegetation about five metres from the main footpath.

There was a yellow buckled strap around her neck tied to a sapling.

According to the coroner’s report, Raviz likely died from a compressive neck injury.

State coroner Kamala Ponnampalam said there is a basis to suspect foul play, and a warrant of arrest for Dhaly has been issued.

And if it’s not damning enough, his jeans and sandals also had traces of Raviz’s blood.

“In the circumstances, I find Madam Raviz’s death to be an unlawful killing, likely perpetrated by her husband”, the state coroner added.

Abusive Relationships

Raviz’s death shows that abusive relationships can often have fatal consequences. Never ignore signs of abuse, no matter how inconsequential they seem.

Life is too short to spend it waiting for someone to change.