Woman in jail for abusing Piang Ngaih Don to death testifies in former son-in-law's trial, says maid 'ate a lot'
SINGAPORE — A woman who is in jail for joining her daughter in abusing Piang Ngaih Don to death in 2016 through mistreatment including starvation gave evidence on Wednesday (July 26) that the maid "ate a lot" and was sometimes given two breakfasts.
- Prema Naraynasamy, who is in jail for her role in abusing Piang Ngaih Don to death, said on Wednesday (July 26) that the maid "ate a lot" and sometimes had two breakfasts
- Prema, 64, is giving evidence in the trial of her former son-in-law Kevin Chelvam who is contesting charges over his alleged role in Piang's death and trying to hide evidence
- Prema said her daughter Gaiyathiri Murugayan, who is also in jail for the fatal abuse of Piang, was suffering "mental torture" over Piang's poor work performance
- Gaiyathiri had spoken of killing herself and her kids, Prema said
- Prema became emotional when she said that her son had committed suicide, so she took Gaiyathiri's threat seriously
SINGAPORE — A woman who is in jail for joining her daughter in abusing Piang Ngaih Don to death in 2016 through mistreatment, including starvation, said in court on Wednesday (July 26) that the maid "ate a lot" and was sometimes given two breakfasts.
Prema Naraynasamy, 64, said that even though Piang typically had four slices of bread and a "big cup" of coffee for breakfast, the maid would still get a second meal if the family headed to the market.
Testifying with the aid of a Tamil interpreter, she said: "If we go down for breakfast early, I will get her roti prata because she likes that. If we go down a bit later towards lunch time, I will get her chicken biryani because she likes chicken a lot, and I would usually get it with extra rice for her."
Prema, who is serving a 17-year jail term for her role in Piang's death, returned to court on Wednesday to testify as a prosecution witness on the fifth day of the trial of Kevin Chelvam, the former husband of Prema's daughter Gaiyathiri Murugayan.
Chelvam, who is a suspended police sergeant, and Gaiyathiri divorced in 2020.
Gaiyathiri is also serving jail time for fatally abusing the maid.
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 court has heard evidence that Piang was emaciated at the time of her death.
She was 145cm tall and weighed 39kg in April 2015, just before she started working for the family. After she died, her weight including the body bag was 24kg.
'WORSE THAN A HUNGRY GHOST'
Most of Prema's testimony early on Wednesday related to Piang's diet, though there was a point when she spoke about losing her son to suicide, and how Gaiyathiri wanted to kill herself and her children as she was suffering "mental torture" over Piang's supposed poor work performance.
When asked by defence counsel Pratap Kishan if Piang ever cooked for herself, Prema said that the helper did not know how to cook, and would have the same meal as the family.Referencing a WhatsApp message from Gaiyathiri that was sent to the family group chat where she said that Piang was "worse than a hungry ghost", Mr Kishan asked if it was also Prema's observation that the helper ate a lot.
Prema responded: "Yes, once I took her to the market at Tekka and I bought her chicken biryani with extra rice. She finished everything."
She added: "I also bought four packets home for me, Gaiyathiri, Kevin (Chelvam) and Kishore (Prema's son) but Kishore didn't want any so I asked Don (the maid) if she wanted the other packet. She immediately said yes and finished everything."
Prema also repeatedly denied that she or her daughter had restricted the amount of food served to Piang, adding that she believed that they fed her well.
GAIYATHIRI HAD 'A LOT OF ISSUES' OVER MAID
Prema told the court that she would mostly stay over at her daughter's home because she felt that the helper was giving Gaiyathiri, who was not feeling well at the time, "a lot of issues".
She said: "Gaiyathiri usually doesn't sleep at night because the kids are crying at night. She always complains of having a migraine so she takes at least 10 to 12 Panadol tablets a day and would see the doctor regularly to get cough mixture."
Prema added that Gaiyathiri would usually take the cough syrup from her if Prema was prescribed any at the polyclinic.
As a way to help her daughter out, Prema would take her grandchildren and Piang to her home, where she lived with her son Kishore.
"One time I brought her over for almost a week and I checked with my daughter, and she was very happy without the maid," said Prema.
When asked by Mr Kishan what she meant by Gaiyathiri being happier, Prema said that with the maid at home in Bishan, Gaiyathiri felt as though she was going to go "crazy" as she also felt very stressed.
The stress that Gaiyathiri had been experiencing was from the need to keep repeating instructions to Piang, whom Prema claimed took two to three hours to finish one task.
She added: "Gaiyathiri was suffering a lot. She also told me that this was a mental torture and she wanted to jump down with her children because of the stress. This was something she not only told me but also her husband."
Mr Kishan asked: "You were concerned as a mother because it was a serious threat by Ms Gaiyathiri?"
Prema began to cry as she responded: "Yes, I already had a child who committed suicide, my son. It affected me very, very badly." No further details of her son's death were disclosed in court.
PLANS TO 'SEND THE HELPER BACK TO MYANMAR'
Prema said that after her daughter confided in her multiple times about being unable to take "the maid's torture" any more, a decision was made to send Piang back to Myanmar.
Unable to recall when the discussion happened, Prema said that all she remembered was asking Piang to call her sister in Myanmar to tell her that she was returning sometime in August 2016.
However, the family did not inform Piang's agent of the decision as Prema claimed that Gaiyathiri was waiting for Chelvam's salary to buy the helper a ticket home.
When asked about Piang's reaction to the news, Prema recalled that the helper "refused to go", so she "told her nicely" that her loss of weight was a concern since this was happening even though she was eating a lot.
She said: "I told her that she needs to go see the doctor because it's very expensive here. I also told her to go back for two months, rest and then come back again."
It was only after their conversation that Piang agreed to return to Myanmar.
REMOVAL OF CCTV
Prema said that when Chelvam arrived home after receiving a call from his then wife Gaiyathiri about Piang's death, she did not interact with him as he went straight into the master bedroom to speak with Gaiyathiri.
At the time, the children were also in the room and the door was closed.
Though Prema had no clear recollection of what was said after she entered the master bedroom, she said it was then that she realised the presence of the CCTV recorder.
Worried about her daughter getting "trapped" by CCTV footage, she asked Chelvam to remove the CCTV unit but he refused, she testified.
"I started to scold him, saying he had no concern for his wife as my first concern was always about my daughter," Prema said.
As Chelvam made no move to remove the CCTV recorder, Prema said she decided to take it down herself.
She tried to remove it but was unable to do so, and again scolded Chelvam over the matter. Chelvam then ripped the CCTV recorder out and threw it onto the bed before leaving the room.
Prema said that after Chelvam left the room, he did not know anything about what she had done with the recorder.
It was only when she was taken back to the police station with her daughter Gaiyathiri and Chelvam that he approached Prema to ask where she had kept the CCTV recorder.
The trial will continue on Thursday with the prosecution's re-examination of Prema. Chelvam's ex-wife Gaiyathiri is expected to testify in the next few days of the trial.