SINGAPORE : The Court of Appeal has decided to uphold the life sentence of an Indonesian maid, who was found guilty of killing her employer's mother.
Indonesian maid Purwanti Parji, who was only 17 at the time of the murder , was found guilty last September of killing 57-year-old Madam Har Chit Heang.
Purwanti had strangled Madam Har while she slept and later slit the woman's wrist to make it look like suicide.
In court, her lawyers had painted the picture of an abused maid who murdered her employer in a fit of anger after being constantly nagged at and deprived of food.
They said she was also made to work long hours.
But Judicial commissioner V K Rajah who presided over the case had said maid abuse should not be used to justify her crime, and sentenced her to life in jail.
Purwanti's defence lawyers found the sentence too excessive and appealed for it to be reduced to ten years.
"As far as our legal research shows, prior to this case, no 17-year-old has been sent to life inprisonment and especially a 17-year-old who has no previous convictions. This is the first offence so that's why we appealed. The court of appeal had said in an earlier case that young people should not be sent for life imprisonment if possible," said defence lawyer Subhas Anandan.
The Court of Appeal however, dismissed their appeal. It will be explaining why it is doing so later.
"In this particular case, the facts are somewhat different because it was premedidation and she kills somebody who was sleeping. There was no provocation so I believe maybe that's what made the Court of Appeal dismissed our appeal," added Anandan.
But Purwanti's lawyers are not giving up.
Purwanti's lawyers will make a last ditch attempt to have her sentence reduced to ten years as they have received instructions from the Indonesian embassy to write in to the President to state their case.
Otherwise, Purwanti is expected to spend at least 20 years behind bars. - CNA