SINGAPORE: A doctor who had treated a family for many years was shocked when she responded to a house call to find a domestic helper dead and cold to the touch on the sofa.
The 24-year-old Myanmar maid was also visibly skinnier than when the doctor had last seen her two months ago, with her skin “wrapping bones”.
Dr Grace Kwan Wai Chee testified on Friday (Jul 21) about what she saw, on day two of the trial against suspended police officer Kevin Chelvam.
Chelvam, 44, is contesting four charges of hurting the maid, abetting his wife in starving her, removing evidence in the form of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) recorder and lying to the police.
It is the prosecution’s case that the victim was usually only given slices of bread soaked in water at irregular intervals.
The victim, Ms Piang Ngaih Don, was found dead on Jul 26, 2016 in Chelvam’s Bishan flat, weighing only 24 kg. She had been abused to death by Chelvam’s wife, Gaiyathiri Murugayan, and his mother-in-law, Prema S Naraynasamy.
They are currently serving 30 and 17 years’ jail respectively for their roles in the case.
Dr Kwan took the stand for the prosecution on Friday afternoon and shared how Gaiyathiri and her family had been her patients for “many years”.
She first saw the victim at her clinic on Jan 19, 2016, for a Manpower Ministry-mandated periodic medical check-up.
The victim was accompanied by Gaiyathiri, who said the maid had a runny nose and a dry cough. Dr Kwan prescribed some medication, and she did not speak to the victim, whom she referred to as “Don”.
The next time she saw the victim was about four months later on May 23, 2016. Gaiyathiri took the maid to the clinic and said she had a runny nose, cough and swelling on her legs.
This time, Dr Kwan noticed that the maid was wearing a surgical mask and sunglasses while carrying Gaiyathiri’s daughter.
She asked the maid to remove her mask and sunglasses and saw bruises around both her eye sockets and cheeks.
“I asked her what happened – she didn’t reply,” said Dr Kwan.
She said the maid kept looking to Gaiyathiri for answers. Gaiyathiri responded that the victim was “clumsy” and “always fell down”.
When Dr Kwan asked the victim if she had fallen down, the maid nodded her head.
Dr Kwan prescribed some medication to relieve the leg swelling, and suggested further tests to diagnose the underlying cause of the swelling, but Gaiyathiri said there was no need and left.
This was the last time Dr Kwan saw the victim alive.
THE DAY SHE DISCOVERED THE MAID HAD DIED
On the morning of Jul 26, 2016, Gaiyathiri called Dr Kwan’s clinic asking for the doctor to head down. She claimed her maid had fallen and that she had found the maid on the floor when she woke up.
She also told a nurse that the victim had diarrhoea the day before.
Dr Kwan got her nurse to advise Gaiyathiri to take the maid to the clinic if she was conscious, as this would be cheaper.
However, Gaiyathiri said she was “in and out of consciousness” but still moving. She said she could not head down to the clinic as she had to look after the kids.
Despite Dr Kwan urging her to call an ambulance, Gaiyathiri insisted on Dr Kwan making a house call.
When Dr Kwan finished with another patient, she headed down to Gaiyathiri’s flat and saw the maid lying on the sofa, face-up.
When she checked on the maid, she realised that her skin had turned blue, her mouth was gaping and her pupils were fixed and dilated. She had no pulse.
“I was shocked,” said Dr Kwan. She tried to do a pain reflex test on the victim with a pen, but there was no response.
She pronounced the victim dead, but Gaiyathiri and her mother Prema immediately responded that that could not be, as they claimed that the victim had been moving just minutes before.
Dr Kwan checked again, due to their reaction, but confirmed that the maid had died.
“Gaiyathiri asked if I could do something about it. I was confused as to what they wanted me to do,” said Dr Kwan. She said she thought maybe Gaiyathiri wanted her to resuscitate the victim or to issue a cause of death.
As she could do neither of these things, Dr Kwan told the two women that there was nothing she could do.
She saw that there was an abrasion on the side of the victim’s head, and that her ankle, foot and heel were bruised.
However, she did not move the body to check the other side as she did not want to “meddle with potential evidence”.
Dr Kwan said she asked the women to report the death to the police, but they both asked if they could call for an ambulance instead.
On the doctor’s insistence, Gaiyathiri then asked for some time and called someone else first, speaking in Tamil.
Dr Kwan said she assumed it was her husband, Chelvam. She said she later asked Gaiyathiri if she had beaten the maid.
When Gaiyathiri said no, Dr Kwan told her that she should not hesitate to call the police then.
But Gaiyathiri was “expressionless”, said the doctor.
Afte a while, Dr Kwan called the police herself and instructed Prema to cover the victim with a blanket.
She asked Prema if the victim had been given food, as she was very thin since Dr Kwan last saw her in May 2016.
Prema claimed that the victim “eats a lot”.
Dr Kwan testified that the victim had very thin limbs when she saw her lying on the sofa. Her eyes and cheeks were very sunken.
When questioned by defence lawyer Pratap Kishan, Dr Kwan explained that “thin limbs to me is like – the skin wrapping the bone”.
Mr Kishan suggested to Dr Kwan that a layperson would not be able to notice such signs of malnutrition, such as thin limbs and sunken cheeks.
Dr Kwan said that it was “so obvious” that “if anybody (saw) her in July, yes, anyone can tell”.
VIDEO FOOTAGE OF CHELVAM LIFTING THE MAID
Earlier in the day, the prosecution played footage from June 2016 of Chelvam allegedly hurting the victim.
The clip opened with Prema manhandling the victim and shifting her roughly so that the maid sat on the kitchen floor.
Prema then handed her a plate of food, which the victim ate slowly while sitting cross-legged on the floor. She appeared dazed, and Prema kicked her as she ate while gesturing at her.
Gaiyathiri and Chelvam later entered the kitchen. Gaiyathiri was carrying her toddler, while Chelvam washed dishes in the sink with his back to the victim.
Chelvam was later shown kicking the victim’s leg, and lifting her up by her hair. Prema later slapped the maid and dragged her into the toilet.
An older woman who had accompanied Chelvam to court covered her mouth as she watched the footage.
Inspector Leong Lim Chee, the investigating officer in charge of the case, testified that he had asked Chelvam if the CCTVs in the house were in working condition.
There were several cameras placed around the house, including the kitchen, living room and bedrooms.
According to Insp Leong, Chelvam claimed that he had removed the CCTV recorder six months before, because a tenant had complained about it.
He initially covered the tenant’s camera with aluminium foil, but later removed the recorder entirely as his children kept switching it on.
He said he directed Chelvam to search for the CCTV recorder, which he did in a manner he said was “very detailed”.
Insp Leong said Chelvam told him he was with the traffic police and did not know what happened. He said he usually did not talk to the victim, as his wife was the one who usually communicated with her.
He said he had rushed home from work when his wife told him the maid had died.
After the police managed to retrieve the CCTV recorder, which had been passed to Prema’s daughter-in-law, Insp Leong said he assigned several investigating officers to review all the footage.
There were 35 days’ worth of footage, which was the maximum storage limit in the devices.
Insp Leong said he directed the officers to look out for events of assault, for when food was given to the victim, or for any other occurrence they deemed necessary to flag.
After that, he collated the information and reviewed all the footage himself.
The prosecution played footage on the day the victim was discovered dead. All the relevant cameras were working at first, and showed Chelvam returning home at about 11.32am.
After that, the footage indicated “video loss” for all of the cameras except the one in the kitchen.
Chelvam was shown entering the kitchen and looking at the camera, seconds after Prema did the same.
A police officer was later shown entering the kitchen just five minutes later with Dr Kwan and Gaiyathiri.
The trial continues on Monday, with a forensic pathologist set to take the stand. Prema’s former daughter-in-law, who took the CCTV recorder from the house, is also set to testify.
Prema and Gaiyathiri themselves are due to testify against Chelvam at some point in the trial.