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Prosecution seeks to impeach witness over evidence 'inconsistencies' in cop's trial over maid's death

SINGAPORE — The prosecution has flagged its intention to distance itself from the courtroom evidence of one of its key witnesses in the trial of a suspended police officer contesting charges over the death of maid Piang Ngaih Don.

(Left) Prema S Naraynasamy (head bowed), being taken back to the scene of the crime in 2017. (Right) An old photo of Piang Ngaih Don.

(Left) Prema S Naraynasamy (head bowed), being taken back to the scene of the crime in 2017. (Right) An old photo of Piang Ngaih Don.

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  • The prosecution is seeking to impeach the courtroom evidence of one of its key witnesses in the trial of a suspended police officer contesting charges over the 2016 death of maid Piang Ngaih Don
  • This means the prosecution will ask the judge to not rely on the evidence Prema Naraynasamy has given in court, but rather rely on earlier statements she had made
  • Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh cited inconsistencies over Prema's evidence on matters, including the removal of a CCTV recorder from the house where Piang died compared to an earlier police statement
  • The CCTV recorder is central to one of the charges against Kevin Chelvam who is contesting four charges, including hurting the maid and removing CCTV evidence
  • During an exchange with the prosecution on Thursday, Prema said she was not trying to "cover Kevin"

SINGAPORE — The prosecution has flagged its intention to distance itself from the courtroom evidence of one of its key witnesses in the trial of a suspended police officer contesting charges over the 2016 death of maid Piang Ngaih Don.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sean Teh said that Prema Naraynasamy's oral testimony was a "blatant attempt" to change evidence in court from statements she had made earlier.

After two days of defence cross-examination of Prema, who is serving a 17-year jail term for her role in Piang's death, Mr Teh said the prosecution is seeking to impeach her evidence.

This means the prosecution will submit that the judge should not rely on Prema's statements in the current court proceedings, even though she is a prosecution witness, but should look to earlier statements she had made.

Prema returned to court on Thursday to testify on the sixth day of the trial of Kevin Chelvam, the former husband of Prema's daughter Gaiyathiri Murugayan, who is also serving a jail term for the fatal abuse of Piang.

Gaiyathiri and Chelvam, who is a suspended police sergeant, divorced in 2020.

Chelvam is contesting four charges of hurting the maid, abetting his ex-wife in starving her, removing evidence in the form of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) recorder and lying to the police.

The prosecution made the impeachment application on Thursday after finding inconsistencies in Prema's testimony about the removal of the CCTV recorder in the home where the maid died compared with a police statement she made on the day of the maid's death.

Prema had told the court in her cross-examination on Wednesday that she tried to pull the CCTV recorder out of the power source after Chelvam's refusal to help her do so and scolded him after she failed.

However, in her police statement on July 26, 2016, Prema had said that Chelvam removed the CCTV recorder after she had insisted on it but there was no mention of her own attempt to dismantle the recorder or of her scolding Chelvam.

When asked by the DPP Teh to explain the inconsistencies between her police statement and her oral testimony, Prema claimed that she was not feeling "mentally well" and was not sure what happened.

She said: "I was very distressed and I felt like I was going insane. At that point of time, I panicked."

DPP Teh went on to clarify that the police statement was not Prema's first statement but a further statement that was read back to her in English and was confirmed by her as correct when she signed it.

Prema then said that it had been seven years since she made the statement and she wasn't able to recall what transpired, but it was not her intention to "try to cover Kevin".

DPP Teh went on to ask: "Why would you suggest that you are covering Kevin?"

This made Prema appear slightly agitated as she told DPP Teh that it seemed like his questions were implying that she was attempting to do that. 

PULLING PIANG'S HAIR

Prior to the prosecution raising the matter of impeaching Prema's evidence, Prema was also found to have been inconsistent in her oral testimony about a June 24, 2016 incident when Chelvam pulled the helper's hair and lifted her body off the ground.

This is the subject of one of the four charges that Chelvam is contesting.

DPP Teh said that when asked about the incident on Wednesday during the defence's cross-examination, Prema had given Chelvam a "glowing" character reference as she claimed he was not the sort of person to cause hurt to Piang.

Prema said that Chelvam had pulled Piang's hair only because he was "trying to wake her up" and he had "accidentally" lifted her off the ground in the process.

To rebut her oral testimony, video footage of the incident was played in court that showed the exact moment in the kitchen when Chelvam stopped washing the dishes and proceeded to grab a fistful of Piang's hair, lifting her off the ground.

"Would you wake someone up by pulling their hair until their entire body is lifted off the ground?" asked DPP Teh.

Even though Prema said "no", she was still adamant that Piang was falling asleep which warranted the physical response from Chelvam. 

In response to Prema's claim, DPP Teh told her that he will be pausing the footage at the exact moment which showed Piang looking up at Kevin.

He then stated that Prema had attempted to mischaracterise video footage of Chelvam causing hurt to Piang and is trying to change the true nature of events by saying that Chelvam had lifted her up accidentally.

Prema responded: "I am not trying to change anything. I am just saying he did it without knowing, which can be done out of anger."

Chelvam's trial is set to continue on Friday. Chelvam's ex-wife Gaiyathiri is expected to take the witness stand in the next few days of the trial.

Related topics

Piang Ngaih Don maid abuse Gaiyathiri Murugayan

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