Fatal Myanmar maid abuse: Victim's limbs were 'skin wrapping bone'

SINGAPORE — After suffering prolonged abuse while working for a police officer's family, Myanmar national Piang Ngaih Don appeared to be severely emaciated when she died.

She was declared dead by Dr Grace Kwan in her employer's home on July 26, 2016.

By then, Piang Ngaih Don, 24, had weighed 24kg, as compared to just over a year before in May 2015 when she was 39kg.

Dr Kwan was testifying on Friday (July 21) at the trial of staff sergeant Kevin Chelvam, 44, who was the maid's registered employer.

Chelvam had claimed trial to four charges, including one charge of voluntarily causing hurt and another charge of abetment of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Piang Ngaih Don by starvation.

He is also contesting one charge of giving false information to a police officer and another of removing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras from his home which recorded the abuse.

Dr Kwan had made a house call to Chelvam's Bishan flat on July 26, 2016, after Chelvam's former wife Gaiyathiri Murugayan, 43, had called her.

Chelvam and Gaiyathiri divorced in 2020 and have two children, aged one and four at the time.

Gaiyathiri was sentenced in June 2021 to 30 years' jail for abusing Piang Ngaih Don till she died. It was the longest jail term meted out in a maid abuse case in Singapore.

Prema S. Naraynasamy, 64, who joined her daughter Gaiyathiri in torturing the maid, was sentenced to 14 years' jail in January.

Prema was given three more years' jail in June after admitting to one charge of instigating Chelvam to cause evidence of the offences in their Bishan flat to disappear, bringing her total jail term to 17 years.

Dr Kwan said when she arrived at the flat just before 11am, she saw the maid lying in the living room with her mouth gaping, and found she had no pulse and her skin was cold to the touch.

She described the maid's limbs looking like they were just skin wrapping bone, and she had sunken eyes and cheeks.

The doctor said she had tried to do a pain reflex test on the maid, but there was no response, and she pronounced her dead.

She said Gaiyathiri and Prema had then responded immediately, saying: "No doctor, cannot be. She was moving just before you arrived."

Dr Kwan said both mother and daughter asked her if she could do something about it.

She told the court she did not know if the pair meant whether she could resuscitate the maid or issue a death certificate, and told them there was nothing she could do.

She also urged them to call the police, and noticed there were several bruises and abrasions on Piang Ngaih Don's body.

But the two women told her to call an ambulance instead.

Dr Kwan said Gaiyathiri had denied beating the maid, and the doctor told her she should not be hesitant to call the police if that were indeed true.

Dr Kwan said she then called the authorities herself.

While waiting for paramedics and the police to arrive, Dr Kwan asked the women if the maid had been given any food, and Prema claimed the maid ate a lot.

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But an autopsy revealed there was no food in the maid's stomach.

On Friday, Dr Kwan said she had seen Piang Ngaih Don twice before her death — once for a Ministry of Manpower checkup in January 2016, and a second time in May that year.

The doctor testified the maid appeared to have a runny nose and dry cough in January.

But in May, she appeared to have bruises around both eye sockets and cheeks, and her legs were swollen.

Dr Kwan said Piang Ngaih Don had not spoken directly to her, and that Gaiyathiri had claimed then that the maid was clumsy and always falling.

The doctor said she wanted to do more tests to determine the cause of the swelling, but Gaiyathiri said there was no need to.

Dr Kwan said at the time of Piang Ngaih Don's death, she appeared to be significantly thinner and malnourished as compared to their last meeting about two months before.

The trial continues next Monday, with a forensic pathologist expected to testify.

Gaiyathiri and Prema are also expected to take the stand as prosecution witnesses during the trial.

ALSO READ: One of Singapore's worst maid abuse cases: Woman gets 14 years' jail for joining daughter in torturing Myanmar maid to death

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.