'Help maid get treatment'

Feb 23, 2009

The Straits Times

By Selina Lum
		Indonesian maid Barokah's (left) lawyer said that she should not be given the maximum sentence for manslaughter as her mental condition is treatable, and she does not pose a long-term threat to society. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

THE Indonesian Embassy has given an assurance that it will 'do all it can' to help a maid convicted of killing her employer get medical and psychiatric treatment after her release from prison. This is to ensure that she does not re-offend.

Indonesian maid Barokah's lawyer, Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal, told a High Court judge yesterday of the embassy's undertaking while arguing why the 29-year-old should not be jailed for life.

The defence's case is that she should not be given the maximum sentence for manslaughter as her mental condition is treatable, and she does not pose a long-term threat to society.

Prosecutors, however, argue that there is a high risk of a relapse and the maid's 'brittle temperament' could cause her to lash out uncontrollably again.

In November 2007, the maid was sentenced to life imprisonment by the same judge, Justice Tay Yong Kwang, after she pleaded guilty to one charge of manslaughter for killing Madam Wee Keng Wah, 75.

On Oct 19, 2005, Barokah had knocked Madam Wee unconscious and pushed her out of her ninth-floor window after the elderly woman scolded the maid, who is married, for going out to meet her Bangladeshi boyfriend.

The maid appealed, and in August last year, the Court of Appeal sent the case back to the trial judge to re-evaluate the psychiatric evidence.

Among the issues to be reviewed were whether Barokah suffers from a condition known as Dependent Personality Disorder (DPD), and whether the fact that she was newly pregnant at the time of the killing had any effect on her mental state.

The prosecution's psychiatrist, Dr Tommy Tan, was of the view that Barokah may have suffered from DPD - she has a fear of being abandoned and needs to find solace in men. She has had two affairs, which both resulted in her having children.

Initially, the defence did not dispute this as it thought this was a factor that would be favourable to the maid. However, it turned out to be a double-edged sword as Justice Tay considered it as one of the reasons for locking her away for life.