Couple's murder conviction overturned, gets 10 years' jail on lesser charge

PUTRAJAYA: A couple, convicted for murdering a Cambodian maid by starving her, escaped the hangman's noose today after the Federal Court overturned their murder conviction and convicted them on a lesser charge.
Housewife, Chin Chui Ling, 45, and her husband Soh Chew Tong, 48, a store owner, were each sentenced to 10 years' jail on a charge under Section 304 (b) of the Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder without any intention to cause Mey Sichan's death.
The 24-year-old maid only weighed 26.1 kg when she was found dead at the couple's shophouse in Jalan Bukit Minyak in Bukit Mertajam, Penang with 29 old and fresh injuries on her body and was severely dehydrated. She had sunken cheeks and eye-sockets.
A five-man bench chaired by Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif allowed the couple's appeal to set aside the Court of Appeal's decision to convict and sentence them to death for murder, after ruling that their murder conviction was not safe.
He said their conviction for culpable homicide not amounting to murder with intention to cause the maid's death under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code which was meted by the High Court was also not safe.
Justice Raus, however, said there were sufficient evidence to convict the couple under Section 304 (b) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder without intention to cause death.
"We take consideration of the facts of the case and what had actually happened. It is a serious case and in a unanimous decision, we order both of them to each serve 10 years in jail," said Justice Raus.
He said the prison term must take into account the number of years the couple had served in custody and imprisonment.
The other judges on the panel were Federal Court judges Tan Sri Hasan Lah, Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim, Tan Sri Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha and Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin.
Both Chin and Soh, in red-and-white prison garb, looked astounded upon hearing the court's verdict. After the court proceeding ended, Chin burst into tears and hugged her mother and a family member before she was taken to the lock-up.
Soh and Chin were initially sentenced to 24 years' jail each by the High Court in 2013 after they were convicted on a reduced charge of committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 (a) of the Penal Code.
Upon appeal by the prosecution, the Court of Appeal, in 2015 set aside the High Court's decision and convicted them for murder and sentenced them to death, prompting the couple to appeal to the Federal Court.
According to the charge, they committed the offence at their home between Jan 1 and April 1, 2012.
During the Court of Appeal proceedings in February 2015, the court was told that Mey Sichan was not given proper food and she had to take food scraps from a rubbish bin.
Lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram had urged the court to impose a lesser jail sentence on his clients, saying they had shown remorse.
Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, however, requested the court to impose the maximum 10 years' jail sentence, saying the incident happened over a period of time which was tantamount to cruel treatment of the maid and a message should be sent to the public at large that maids should not be mistreated.
Outside the court, lawyer Datuk K. Kumarendran who was also representing the couple, said his clients were in custody for almost three years and with a one-third remission for good behaviour, the couple would only serve about four and half years' in jail. — Bernama