Jobless man gets death for murder of baby girl

A JOBLESS man was sentenced to death on Tuesday for the murder of a six-month-old baby girl found in a rubbish chute in Hougang last year. 

Soosainathan Dass Saminathan, 41, had sexually abused the girl before sedating her, tying her hands and legs, and then dumping her into the chute from his ninth-floor flat. 

The court heard that the baby’s father, Jalil Hameed, 26, an Indian national, was Soosainathan’s friend, and lived with him. 

The baby’s mother, Widiyarti Kartanom, 28, an Indonesian, also stayed at Soosainathan’s three-room flat at Hougang Avenue 8 whenever she came to Singapore. 

On Aug 4, while Jalil was out, Soosainathan entered the room where mother and child slept, took the baby girl into his room, and locked his door. At 6am the next day, he told the mother the baby was sleeping in his room. 

Widiyarti then began shouting for her baby, but Soosainathan said a stranger had taken the baby away. He then suggested they make a police report.  

But Widiyarti refused, and Soosainathan left the flat. 

As soon as he left, she called the police, who found the baby’s blood on the wall, two pillows, and on a piece of black tape found on an air-conditioning compressor outside the room window. 

The case was unusual in that the prosecution relied largely on circumstantial evidence found in the room to prove its case.  

The prosecution pointed out that the baby’s blood was found only in Soosainathan’s room, and that swabs taken from under his fingernails contained DNA which matched the baby’s. 

Toxicologist Danny Lo also testified that tests revealed an abnormally high level of chlorpheniramine, an antihistamine usually prescribed for runny nose, and diphenhydramine, mostly used for cough and colds, in the baby’s bloodstream. 

Soosainathan’s doctor testified that he had prescribed these drugs to him for a cold. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network