Woman Who Killed Daughter In Geylang Flat Has Schizophrenia, Murder Charge Dropped

Woman To Be Kept In Custody After Murder Of Daughter In Geylang As She Was Of Unsound Mind

Last August, a 35-year-old woman was arrested for the alleged involvement in her 8-year-old daughter’s death at a Geylang Lorong 31 residential unit.

On 20 Sep, the woman was acquitted of a murder charge as she has schizophrenia, and was found to be of unsound mind at the time of the incident.

However, she must be kept in safe custody, and the Home Affairs minister will decide where she will be confined.

Woman who stabbed daughter in Geylang flat started to hear voices, behave erratically in Mar 2021

According to The Straits Times (ST), the Singaporean woman began to hear voices in her head starting Mar 2021, telling her that her elder daughter was an evil spirit. She would also throw away food and drinks prepared by family members, believing they were poisoned.

Her boyfriend – the father of their two children – was working in China at the time. She lived with her parents, her brother and his wife, and their children in a Lorong 31 Geylang flat.

Among other things, she believed she was being followed and surveilled through her phone and laptop. Her family members noticed her strange behaviour.

In the two days before the murder, the woman was spotted behaving erratically at MRT stations, taking the train aimlessly. She was spotted entering Aljunied MRT station and then taking a train to Somerset.

However, she tapped out and then returned, before tapping out again.

Travelled around Singapore aimlessly as voices ‘told her to do so’

Later, she took a train to Tanjong Pagar and exited and re-entered the station. She was apparently travelling like this as voices were telling her to do so, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported.

The following day, she also took her younger daughter to Aljunied MRT station and left her elder daughter behind, also due to the voices in her head. The elder daughter went to her grandparents’ coffee shop nearby.

The woman then wandered around Tampines MRT station with her daughter and sat on the floor for half an hour. When entering and leaving the stations, she tailgated another commuter.

Woman started rambling incoherently in Geylang flat before murder

On 10 Aug 2021, the day of the murder, the woman was in the Geylang flat bedroom with her two daughters, and other family members were also present at home.

She started to ramble incoherently and rattle off names of Chinese historical figures sometime before 11.38am, according to her niece, who was eating breakfast in the living room.

But when the woman’s niece told her mother what she heard, she was told that her mother could not hear anything, so she went back to eat her breakfast.

Loud wails could be heard from the bedroom later, and the woman’s niece decided to record the woman’s ranting.

When the woman’s brother went to check on her due to the commotion, he was shocked to find a blood-splattered scene and the 8-year-old lying motionless on the floor.

Police alerted; 8-year-old died of stab wounds

The woman was naked, holding a pair of scissors. The first thing the woman’s brother did was shout at her, and she started walking towards him. He told his family to call the police.

He then took a blood-stained knife from the floor, threw it towards the kitchen, and closed the door.

Grabbing pillows to protect himself, he re-entered the room to confront the woman, who was holding a pair of scissors. Her younger daughter hid behind the door, and he moved to rescue her.

While his wife called the police, he asked his parents to return home to the Geylang flat.

When police arrived, the woman was assessed to not pose any immediate danger, although she was still holding on to a pair of scissors. She was clothed and arrested.

The 8-year-old’s cause of death was determined to be stab wounds to her neck and torso, and she could not be resuscitated even though she was rushed to the hospital — she was already motionless and had no pulse or breath.

Woman at high risk of self-harm, requires long-term supervision & psychiatric care

Although the woman was of unsound mind at the time of the incident, she was deemed fit to plead. She pleaded guilty to a count of murder.

Regardless, the prosecution asked that she be acquitted and that a court order is given to keep her in custody.

The Home Affairs minister may order her to be confined in a psychiatric institution, prison or another suitable place of safe custody during the President’s pleasure.

“A young innocent life is lost. That cannot be undone,” said Ms Choo Yean Lin, who was acting as the woman’s lawyer.

However, moving on, we pray that the (woman) could recover speedily so she can be reunited with her aged parents and her youngest daughter.