A 19-year-old woman was tortured and starved for more than two months before she died in a Clementi flat, the High Court heard on Monday (9 Feb).
The abuse allegedly involved a 66-year-old man she met through a multi-level marketing (MLM) club, her older brother, and his girlfriend, who was married to someone else.
The 66-year-old man has since pleaded guilty.
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The victim, Huang Baoying, died on 5 May 2021 after suffering repeated beatings, prolonged food deprivation, and other forms of abuse in a flat at Block 602 Clementi West Street 1.
Source: Google Maps
In her final hours, she was beaten with a wooden stick, forced to sit upright with her hands tied above her head, had salt rubbed into an open wound, and was drenched under a running tap for 15 minutes.
According to The Straits Times (ST), she later died on a mattress in the living room. An autopsy found that she weighed just 27.6kg and died from severe malnutrition, sepsis, and extensive blunt force trauma.
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On 9 Feb, Lim Peng Tiong, 66, pleaded guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Lim, a member of an MLM club selling Herbalife products, owned the flat where the abuse took place.
According to ST, he admitted to beating Ms Huang about 240 times with a wooden stick on 1 May 2021, allegedly acting on instructions from the group’s MLM coach, Chee Mei Wan.
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Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh said Ms Huang was “tortured for no other reason than some twisted project to purportedly ‘improve’ her behaviour”.
Chee, 46, allegedly introduced a punishment system involving fines and physical penalties to “correct” members’ habits, which she believed affected product sales and commissions.
Chee, despite being married, was in a romantic relationship with Ms Huang’s older brother, 34-year-old Huang Bocan, ST reported.
Source: Hardware Zone
Ms Huang was punished the most as she was deemed unmotivated by her brother and Chee, and performed poorly in sales.
From Feb to May 2021, she was deprived of food, confined in a toilet for long periods, and beaten despite being weak and injured.
She was later limited to water only from April 2021, forced to do squats, and chained near a toilet bowl.
Her quietness during beatings was also perceived by her brother Huang Bocan and Chee as defiance.
Source: China Press
Previously, 66-year-old Lim too had been beaten when he did not meet expectations, ST said.
Lim’s lawyer sought an 11-year jail term, saying he was “brainwashed” and did not decide the punishments. Prosecutors argued for 20 years’ imprisonment.
Chee and Huang Bocan are facing murder charges. Their cases are still pending.
The case will be heard again on 2 March.
Also read: Man from M’sia tortured & nearly shot after refusing to work as phone scammer in Cambodia
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.