Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

A 22-year-old Burmese foreign domestic worker in Singapore, who was found guilty of murder by stabbing her employer's elderly mother-in-law 26 times in 2018, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday (Jul. 4).

Zin Mar Nwe, who committed the crime when she was just 17, had stabbed the 70-year-old victim after the latter threatened to send her back to her agent.

Her passport reflected her age as 23 when she arrived in Singapore in January 2018.

However, a bone-age test after the incident revealed that she was only 17 when she committed the offence.

Investigations later revealed that her agent had instructed her to declare her age as 23.

As she was below 18 during the offence, the only sentence available to the court was life imprisonment, as she cannot be sentenced to death.

Under the law, women cannot be caned.

Stabbed victim after victim hit her

The victim was the mother-in-law of Zin Mar Nwe's employer.

Before the incident, the victim had hit the domestic worker while chiding her and threatened to return her to her agent the next day.

Furious, the maid grabbed a knife, approached the victim while watching television, and stabbed her 26 times until she stopped moving.

She retrieved her belongings and went to her maid agency to ask for her passport but could not get it back.

After wandering around, she eventually returned to her agency, where she was arrested.

Partial defence of diminished responsibility rejected

While Zin Mar Nwe admitted to intentionally causing bodily injuries sufficient to cause death, she sought to raise the partial defence of diminished responsibility.

However, Justice Andre Maniam rejected her claim of being in a “dissociative state” during the killing.

This was after Zin Mar Nwe argued that she suffered from mixed anxiety and depressive reaction or adjustment disorder, and depressed mood at the time of the killing.

The judge later rejected the claim.

He stated that Zin Mar Nwe knew what she was doing and could describe the killing vividly to the police.

Zin Mar Nwe also provided inconsistent reports of the incident, omitting certain details to make herself seem less culpable.

The prosecution did not object to a sentence of life imprisonment.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Zin Mar Nwe was seen smiling and chatting with the Burmese interpreter before the start of the hearing.

When the judge asked her to stand up to await judgment, Zin Mar Nwe was visibly anxious and clenched her hands together.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement after the judge handed down his decision.

Related story

Top photo via Mothership