On April 10, Kevin Chelvam was the last of three people to be found guilty of abusing Myanmar maid, Piang Ngaih Don. - Photos: Kelvin Chng, Helping Hands For Migrant Workers
SINGAPORE: Suspended policeman Kevin Chelvam has been convicted of four charges linked to one of Singapore’s worst maid abuse cases involving the death of a domestic helper.
On Thursday (April 10), the 46-year-old was the last of three people to be found guilty of abusing Myanmar maid, Piang Ngaih Don, who weighed a mere 24kg when she died in 2016.
She had not been given sufficient food for at least 35 days. When she started working for the family on May 28, 2015, she weighed 39kg.
After a trial, Chelvam was convicted of one count of abetting his then-wife Gaiyathiri Murugayan to voluntarily cause grievous hurt by starving Piang Ngaih Don.
Chelvam, who was her registered employer, was also convicted of one count of voluntarily causing hurt by grabbing her hair, and lifting her body off the ground.
Chelvam and Gaiyathiri were divorced in 2020. He has been suspended from the Singapore Police Force since August 2016.
Gaiyathiri, then 41, was earlier sentenced to 30 years’ in prison, the longest jail term meted out here in a maid abuse case.
Her mother, Prema S. Naraynasamy, then 64, was sentenced to 17 years’ jail in 2023 over her role in the case.
Court documents showed that Piang Ngaih Don died of brain injury on July 26, 2016, with severe blunt trauma to her neck after 14 months of repeated abuse. She was 24 years old and was working outside of Myanmar for the first time.
Doctors testifying at Chelvam’s trial said the maid’s limbs looked like they were just skin wrapping bone.
They added she had a body mass index similar to someone suffering from advanced cancer or from extensive and widespread tuberculosis.
Chelvam was also convicted by District Judge Teoh Ai Lin of one count of giving false information to a police officer handling the case, and one count of causing evidence relating to the case to disappear by dismantling a CCTV recorder installed in his Bishan flat.
When questioned, Chelvam lied to an investigating police officer that the CCTV cameras had been removed months earlier.
Deputy public prosecutors Stephanie Koh, Sean Teh and Cheronne Lim stated in their submissions that there were CCTV cameras installed at various parts of the flat.
The devices were used to monitor Piang Ngaih Don and the couple’s two children, who were aged one and four at the time.
Investigators retrieved 35 days’ worth of footage, recorded between June 21 and July 26, 2016, which showed multiple acts of abuse inflicted on the victim.
While working for the family, she was burned with a heated iron, choked, shaken violently, punched, kicked and stomped on.
For 11 consecutive nights from July 15, 2016, Gaiyathiri tied one of the maid’s hands with string to a window grille at night while the younger woman slept on the floor of the bedroom.
CCTV footage recorded on June 24, 2016, showed Chelvam grabbing the maid by her hair and lifting her body off the ground.
The court heard it was Gaiyathiri who starved Piang Ngaih Don, with Chelvam failing to ensure she was given adequate food.
During the trial, Chelvam feigned ignorance and blamed his ex-wife, the prosecutors said.
The DPPs said: “By his inaction, (he) abetted Gaiyathiri’s continued starvation of the deceased.
“(The maid) had irregular mealtimes, often had only two meals a day, and that an entire meal sometimes comprised of nothing more than sliced bread soaked in water and callously left for her by the kitchen sink.”
Piang Ngaih Don was subjected to continued abuse just hours before she was found dead, with Gaiyathiri and Prema repeatedly assaulting her from around 11.40pm on July 25, 2016, to around 5am the next day.
Their abuse left the victim motionless and unresponsive on the bedroom floor.
Gaiyathiri contacted a doctor between 9.30am and 9.45am when Piang Ngaih Don remained motionless.
The doctor, who visited the home, found the maid dead and told the women they should alert the police.
Gaiyathiri contacted her husband, who returned home at around 11.20am.
Paramedics pronounced Piang Ngaih Don dead at 11.30am. Court documents stated the police arrived a minute later.
The DPP said: “Inside the master bedroom, Prema told (Chelvam) to dismantle the CCTV recorder, including the hard disk drive, from the power source. He did so and handed the CCTV recorder to Prema.”
Police were still in the flat in the afternoon when Prema’s daughter-in-law arrived to take care of the children.
Prema then slipped the CCTV recorder into the woman’s handbag without her knowledge.
She told the younger woman in Tamil: “I have kept something in your bag, do something with it.”
The daughter-in-law left the flat with her handbag.
After 3.30pm, a police officer noticed there were CCTV cameras in the flat and asked Chelvam if they were working.
The DPPs said Chelvam lied to the officer, claiming he had removed the CCTV recorder six months ago at his tenant’s request.
But police learnt from the couple’s four-year-old daughter she had seen CCTV recordings on Gaiyathiri’s phone the day before.
The DPPs said Chelvam admitted he had dismantled the recorder and handed it to Prema. Police recovered it later that evening.
Chelvam, who was arrested on Aug 1, 2016, is represented by lawyers Pratap Kishan and Jasmine Yan.
He will be sentenced at a later date. - The Straits Times/ANN
