A Bangladeshi worker was sentenced to death yesterday after he was found guilty of murdering his Indonesian girlfriend.
Ahmed Salim, 31, had strangled domestic worker Nurhidayati Wartono Surata in a room at the Golden Dragon Hotel in Geylang on the evening of Dec 30, 2018.
Judicial Commissioner Mavis Chionh convicted Ahmed of a charge of murder, which carries the mandatory death penalty.
Ahmed did not react as the judge gave him a death sentence.
The court earlier heard that Ahmed and Ms Nurhidayati started a relationship in May 2012 after a chance encounter.
They later agreed to get married in December 2018, with Ahmed even putting a ring on her finger at a party in 2017.
In 2018, she admitted to seeing another man, but Ahmed and Ms Nurhidayati reconciled and resumed dating each other a few months later.
Some time in late 2018, she began dating Mr Hanifa Mohammad Abu, a Bangladeshi general fitter.
On Dec 9, 2018, she told Ahmed that she had a new boyfriend and that he should return home for his arranged marriage, which his mother had earlier organised to take place last year.
She broke up with him over a phone call later that month, but they met again at the Golden Dragon Hotel on Dec 30 that year.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Hay Hung Chun said earlier in court that Ahmed threatened to kill Ms Nurhidayati if she did not end her relationship with Mr Hanifa.
“When the deceased refused, the accused brutally strangled her with a towel around her neck,” said the DPP.
Ahmed then wound a rope – which he had brought with him – around her neck several times, tightened it with a few knots, and twisted her head from left to right.
Her body was found at about 10.15pm that day by a hotel receptionist. The police arrested Ahmed at around 10.45am the next day.
Breaking down in tears multiple times in court earlier, Ahmed had said he had been angry with the woman for repeatedly cheating on him but that he let it go because he loved her.
Yesterday, Judicial Commissioner Chionh found that Ahmed had decided to kill Ms Nurhidayati even before Dec 30, 2018, if she refused to leave her new boyfriend and get back with him. This was borne out in his actions, such as taking a rope to the hotel and clearing out his bank account earlier on the day of the murder, among other things.
The judge also noted the statements that Ahmed made to the police in which he admitted he had decided to kill the victim.
The judge rejected the defence’s argument that Ahmed had been provoked by Ms Nurhidayati, who allegedly said the other man was better than him financially and in bed. The judge found that the victim had said no such thing, noting that Ahmed mentioned the incident only 11/2 years after the murder.
Judicial Commissioner Chionh also did not accept the defence’s contention that Ahmed’s mental responsibility for the killing was reduced due to his adjustment disorder.
His decision-making ability and his ability to exercise self-control were not impaired, she said. “On the contrary, as I have noted, his actions before, during and after the killing demonstrated premeditation, cogent planning and methodical execution.”
The judge also rejected Ahmed’s allegation that he was suicidal at the time. His lawyers said their client is intending to appeal against the court’s decision.