Maid who stabbed S'pore employer's mum-in-law 26 times gets life sentence reduced to 17 years' jail

A Burmese foreign domestic worker, who fatally stabbed her employer's mother-in-law in 2018, had her jail term reduced to 17 years on Aug. 26 after a successful appeal.

Zin Mar Nwe, now 24, was given life imprisonment in 2023 after being found guilty of stabbing and killing the 70-year-old victim.

The elderly woman had threatened to send Zin Mar Nwe back to her agent, and the foreign domestic worker proceeded to stab the victim 26 times on Jun. 25, 2018.

Zin Mar Nwe's charge was reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder earlier this year in May, after the court accepted the argument by her lawyers that she had been provoked at the time of the killing, as reported by The Straits Times and CNA.

Elderly woman's threat was a grave and sudden provocation

The court said it was satisfied that the elderly woman's threat was a grave and sudden provocation, as it affected the domestic worker's employment and livelihood.

The judges also noted Zin Mar Nwe's youth and immaturity, as well as fears of being sent back to Myanmar with crippling debt.

Zin Mar Nwe's lawyers had argued that the elderly woman's words threatened the domestic worker's economic survival, who had come to Singapore to help her debt-ridden family.

The elderly woman had also "scolded, hit, and hurt" the domestic worker before the incident.

Lawyers had requested Zin Mar Nwe's sentence be reduced to not more than 16 to 18 years' jail, while the prosecutors sought 18 to 20 years' jail.

What happened

Zin Mar Nwe arrived in Singapore on Jan. 5, 2018, and started working for her employer in May. 10, 2018.

Although her passport stated that her age was 23, investigations revealed that she was 17 at that time.

On Jun. 25, 2018, the elderly woman and Zin Mar Nwe had a dispute while alone in the flat, and the elderly woman threatened to send Zin Mar Nwe back to her agent the next day.

The domestic worker then grabbed a knife and proceeded to stab the victim 26 times.

Zin Mar Nwe retrieved her belongings, washed the knife, and changed her clothes before leaving the flat.

She went to the agency at 12:38pm to ask for her passport.

She left when she heard the agents say that they were going to call her employers.

After wandering around until 5:30pm, she returned to her agency, where she was arrested.

Top image via Mothership. For illustrative purposes only.