S'pore policeman, 47, loses appeal & gets longer jail term for abetting fatal abuse of Myanmar helper

A police officer had his jail sentence increased for his role in the fatal abuse of a Myanmar domestic helper following a dismissal of his appeal by a High Court judge.

Kelvin Chelvam, 47, was previously sentenced to 10 years’ jail after being convicted over the fatal abuse of Piang Ngaih Don by his then-wife Gaiyathiri Murugayan and mother-in-law.

The charges included one count each of voluntarily causing hurt, abetting Gaiyathiri to voluntarily cause grievous hurt, giving false information to a police officer handling the case and causing evidence to disappear.

Chelvam had appealed against his convictions for abetment and causing evidence to disappear, as well as his sentences for all charges except the one for giving false information, CNA reported.

The judge dismissed all his appeals and instead allowed the prosecution's cross-appeal to increase the sentence for the charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

Chelvam’s sentence was ultimately raised to 11 years and six months in jail.

Gaiyathiri and her mother, Prema S Naraynasamy, are currently serving 30 years and 17 years in jail respectively for their roles in the case.

Fatal abuse

According to CNA, Chelvam was Piang's registered employer while Gaiyathiri oversaw her day-to-day work and welfare.

He had also signed the employment contract, which required that the helper be given at least three adequate meals a day among other terms.

Between 2015 and 2016, Piang endured almost 10 months of physical abuse at the hands of the family.

The 24-year-old finally succumbed after an assault in July 2016, having been starved by Gaiyathiri.

She weighed just 24kg at the time of her death.

A CCTV system installed in the flat captured 35 days of the abuse Piang endured leading up to her death.

The footage showed that Chelvam was present on multiple occasions while she was abused.

He later tried to obstruct investigations by disconnecting the CCTV recorder and lying to the police about its whereabouts, CNA reported.

Defence

In his defence, Chelvam's lawyer argued that his client did not know Piang had been "starved to the point that her life was in danger", CNA reported.

He pointed to evidence from a doctor who examined Piang in January and May 2016, saying the doctor did not think she appeared noticeably thinner between those visits.

The prosecution countered that the critical period was the final weeks of Piang's life, between June and July 2016.

The same doctor had testified that she was "extremely emaciated" at the time of her death, with "limbs resembling skin wrapping around bone".

Under cross-examination, Chelvam admitted he had noticed Piang's drastic weight loss, according to CNA.

The prosecution argued that Chelvam ultimately bore responsibility for ensuring Piang's basic needs were met, but abdicated that responsibility by leaving her care entirely to his ex-wife.

It also submitted that, as a police officer, Chelvam knew causing evidence to disappear was an offence but chose to participate anyway.

In seeking a heavier sentence for the voluntarily causing hurt charge, the prosecution disagreed with the trial judge's finding that it was an isolated incident.

Knowing about the sustained abuse but still choosing to assault Piang made Chelvam the third abuser, the prosecutor argued.

The judge dismissed Chelvam's appeals and upheld his convictions, finding no basis to overturn the trial judge's decision or conclude that the sentence was "manifestly excessive".

Chelvam was ordered to begin serving his sentence on Aug. 7 after the court granted his request to defer it by a week so he could spend time with his daughter.