Maid gets 20 years’ jail in Indonesia for Bedok double murder

An Indonesian maid who killed and stole from an elderly couple in Bedok in 2017 will spend 20 years in jail in her home country after a trial there for the double murder.

The Indonesian court ruling was revealed yesterday in a coroner's inquiry into the deaths of Mr Chia Ngim Fong, 79, and his wife, Madam Chin Sek Fah, 78.

The coroner's court in Singapore heard that Khasanah, who goes by only one name, was originally sentenced to life imprisonment in Indonesia but had the sentence reduced on appeal.

Khasanah, who escaped to Indonesia after the crime, was not handed over to the authorities in Singapore even though her offences were committed here.

Instead, the Indonesian National Police worked with the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to solve the crime, The Straits Times previously reported.

Khasanah, then 41, was not handed over to Singapore due to the principle of personaliteit, which requires any Indonesian arrested in the country for a crime committed overseas to be processed in Indonesia, instead of being sent to the jurisdiction where the offence took place.

TIED UP

Khasanah, who came from Java, had worked for the couple at Block 717 Bedok Reservoir Road for about a month before the murders.

They were found tied up and unconscious in their five-room executive flat on June 21, 2017.

In the coroner's inquiry yesterday, Assistant Superintendent Mahathir Mohamad from the SPF told State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam that Mr Chia suffered blunt force trauma to his head while Madam Chin sustained blunt force trauma to her head and chest.

The court heard that Khasanah left for Indonesia by ferry from HarbourFront Centre at 1.20pm on June 21, 2017, after killing the pair and stealing from them.

ASP Mahathir said that after fleeing, Khasanah was in an Internet cafe in Indonesia where she was overheard talking to somebody on the phone about her offences.

The Indonesian police were alerted, and on June 28, 2017, they arrested her in Tungkal Ilir, in Jambi province in Sumatra, after raiding her room at Hotel Nanber.

ASP Mahathir told the court yesterday that Khasanah's murder trial took place in an Indonesian court between Feb 27 and May 2 in 2018.

She was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. This sentence was reduced to 20 years' jail following an appeal on Aug 15 that year.

The reasons for this reduction were not revealed in court yesterday.

State Coroner Kamala will be giving her findings today.