SINGAPORE: The car driver who allegedly caused an accident in Chinatown on Feb 6 that left a six-year-old girl dead and her mother seriously injured was charged on Wednesday (April 8).
Accompanied by her husband, the woman, 38, arrived at the State Courts around 8.25am.
She was handed two charges.
One was for driving without due care and attention, causing the death of the girl, and the other for driving without due care and attention, causing grievous hurt to the girl’s 31-year-old mother.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon had asked for the case to be adjourned for six weeks as investigations into the case remain ongoing.
The case has been fixed for a pre-trial conference on May 13.
Vishnu did not object to the defence’s application for a gag order to be imposed under the Children and Young Persons Act, as the woman’s son was in the car at the time of the incident and is a potential witness.
Said the prosecutor: “Due to her relationship with the child, the gag order for his protection must extend to her as well.”
The woman’s lawyer, Navin Thevar, had argued that the gag order was necessary to protect her six-year-old son from the glare of unwanted public scrutiny and further embarrassment.
“The dangers and risks are particularly acute in the circumstances of the present case because there have been many (online) posts against my client and the boy, which are not only untrue, but are of a xenophobic nature,” said Navin.
The woman is accused of failing to keep a proper lookout while making a right turn as she exited the open-space carpark in Spring Street in Chinatown at 11.50am.
As a result, she allegedly collided with both pedestrians who were crossing the street near the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
Sheyna Lashira Smaradiani, and her mother, Raisha Anindra Pascasiswi, who are Indonesians, were taken to the hospital. They were holidaying in Singapore when the accident happened.
Sheyna was pronounced dead at the hospital and her remains were repatriated to Indonesia on Feb 8 and buried that day in south Jakarta.
Raisha has since been discharged.
Those who drive without due care and attention, causing death, can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
If convicted of driving without due care and attention, causing grievous hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to two years, fined up to $5,000, or both.
The offender also faces disqualification from driving all classes of vehicles.
Road traffic fatalities are at a 10-year high, with 149 such deaths recorded in 2025 compared with 141 in 2016. - The Straits Times/ANN
