MAID'S MURDER
Couple had on-off love affair
She found out Bangladeshi is married but later resumed relationship
By Arul John
February 07, 2009
THE lovers were together, then apart and then together again - all in just 10 weeks.
Miss Yulia Afriyanti, 25, and construction worker Kamrul Hasan Abdul Quddus, 35, had initially planned to marry in late 2007.
But in October that year, she found out that he was married with a wife and two children back in Bangladesh.
Miss Yulia, an Indonesian maid, then broke up with Kamrul Hasan and later got into a relationship with Mr Joseph Guerzon Corpuz, a Filipino national working in Singapore.
On 15 Nov 2007, she told Kamrul Hasan to forget her and that she wanted to marry Mr Corpuz.
But by early December, Miss Yulia and Kamrul were back together. She told Mr Corpuz that she would marry Kamrul Hasan.
Meeting his family
She subsequently told him she would be accompanying Kamrul Hasan to Changi Airport on 16Dec to receive his mother, brother and sister, who were visiting Singapore from Bangladesh.
But that meeting never took place because Miss Yulia was found dead that day.
An autopsy performed the next day showed that she had died of suffocation caused by strangulation.
Kamrul Hasan is accused of murdering Miss Yulia.
The details of their relationship were revealed in the prosecution's opening address yesterday, the first day of Kamrul Hasan's trial.
Miss Yulia first came to Singapore on 19Feb 2004 to work as a maid.
A year later, she became acquainted with Kamrul Hasan, whom she had met during a party, according to court papers.
She returned to Indonesia on 10May 2006 but kept in touch with him.
Re-employed
After she returned here two months later to be re-employed as a maid, she and Kamrul Hasan became lovers.
On 1Dec 2006, she started working for a Mexican family. The couple continued to see each other after her employers moved from Tanjung Rhu to Grange Road in September 2007.
Court papers showed that Miss Yulia had told her family, employers, employment agency and friends that she planned to stop working here and return to Indonesia before 13Oct 2007 so that she could marry Kamrul Hasan.
She even arranged with the employment agency to find a replacement maid for the Mexican family.
But a month after Kamrul Hasan returned to Bangladesh for a holiday on 11Sep 2007, they broke up.
Miss Yulia then began going steady with Mr Corpuz. But by December, she and Kamrul Hasan had reconciled.
However, a love triangle seemed to be brewing.
Although Miss Yulia had broken up with Mr Corpuz on 9 Dec 2007, they still communicated frequently and intimately by phone.
The court papers showed that the accused had made several calls to Miss Yulia's handphone early in the morning on the day she died.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Peter Koy told the High Court that evidence would show that Kamrul Hasan had lied in his statements, and he even had sex with her before she died.
Consultant forensic pathologist Gilbert Lau, who performed the autopsy on her, said the extent of her injuries, like the bruising found in the soft tissue around her neck and throat, showed that her killer had strangled her with a lot of force.
He highlighted the existence of many abrasions and bruises on her chin, lower jaw, face and neck, which indicated that she tried to move her head and neck to resist being strangled.
He also pointed out abrasions and bruises on her upper limbs, which seemed to indicate that she had tried to defend herself while she was under attack.
Punched
Associate Professor Lau also pointed out a fracture around her left eye and a bruise on her left eye, which suggested her killer punched or hit her.
He said that bruises and cuts on the inner lining of her lips suggested that her killer had pressed on her mouth with his hands, thus pushing her lips inwards until they came in contact with, and were cut by, her teeth.
He added that abrasions on her genitals also showed that she had sex before her death. The trial continues today.
If found guilty, Kamrul Hasan could face the death penalty.
--------------BACKGROUND END-----------
was really interesting to be able to watch the legal proceedings, especially of a murder case. (ahmigassssshhhh i better start writing like a journalist) The accused Bangladeshi didnt look as fearsome as a murderer ought to look like and the Judge Justice Kan Ting Chiu is a pretty sharp and fun person. He chided this young lawyer, a public persecutor, for reading some stuff wrongly and teased him for being nervous. I was thoroughly impressed with this friendly-looking man: 
and my interest was really piqued by the maid Yulia. obviously there were so many mysteries surronding her death. the cross-examiner and persecutor (yummy-looking lawyer) tried to establish her character by questions posed to the witnesses called to the stand (Yulia's sister and mother) but it was difficult to ascertain coz of the language barriers and Yulia's mother being very scaredy-cat answering "i do not recall" to almost every single question, even the most basic ones! i wanted to give her a good shake coz she looks like my mother's type, very easily intimidated and then clamming up for the good she believes would benefit all, which is not true of course.
so it seems as if the mother, who should be preparing the first ever wedding of the family; who should be worried about Yulia marrying a non-muslim man; who should ask whether the man was trustsworthy; who should ask even more when Yulia phoned her to inform the patchback after a calling off the initial planned engagement is all "I do not know" anything about this daughter of hers, making Yulia seemed like a easy-going, non-commital player of the game.
meanwhile, the court proceedings though full of juice, took an excruciatingly long time to press forward and Fandi, Suzette and I left before the court adjourn for the hearings the next day.
rough Powerpoint sketch of how the court looks like
NOW, i am really interested to go down for the hearing of the Ex-Teacher Had Sex With School Boy on February 23. such scandalous scandal! i wonder if the court would be open especially since a minor is involved.
i remain sympathetic to the teacher actually. even the high-profile cases in US in recent years which involves early-30s female teachers and school boys (omggg trend!) did not have school boys threatening to kill families! and those US teachers were often FOUND OUT, instead of surrendering like the local one did. that could account for something for sure.
who's interested in going if going can go?
No comments:
Post a Comment