Maid fatally stabbed elderly employer who spat in her face to 'teach her a lesson'

Selina Lum
The Straits Times
Nov 15, 2022

A domestic worker from Myanmar who stabbed her 95-year-old employer in the face with one knife, and in the neck with another knife, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide on Tuesday.

Sandar Htoo, 36, admitted that she stabbed Madam Ang Pek Chai in her two-storey semi-detached Recreation Road house on July 6, 2020, because she wanted to "teach her a lesson".

Deputy Public Prosecutor Grace Chua told the High Court that the maid was angry over an incident earlier that morning when Madam Ang spat in her face.

The DPP sought a jail term of between 18 years and 20 years in prison.

The Myanmar national originally faced a murder charge, but the charge was reduced after she was assessed to be suffering from a mental condition that diminished her responsibility for her actions.

Madam Ang was found motionless and pronounced dead at the scene.

For her crime, Sandar Htoo could face life in prison, or be jailed for up to 20 years and given a fine.