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Unveiling Singapore’s Death Penalty Discourse: A Critical Analysis of Public Opinion and Deterrent Claims

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While Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) maintains a firm stance on the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking in Singapore, the article presents evidence suggesting that the methodologies and interpretations of these studies might not be as substantial as portrayed.

Death sentence upheld for UAE maid who killed her employer’s baby

ABU DHABI- A maid who murdered her employer’s four-month-old baby girl by smashing her head on a table had her death sentence upheld by the Appeals Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that ST, from Indonesia, took the baby, named Malak, from the bedroom that was fitted with CCTV cameras, then smashed the infant’s head against a wooden table.

She then returned the baby to its crib four minutes later.

S T had waited for her co-worker, the baby’s Filipina nanny, to use the bathroom before attacking the child.

She later confessed to have killed the baby to get back at the nanny, with whom she had a rivalry. She said she pictured the nanny’s face every time she looked at the baby.

Police investigations also found that at the time of the attack, S T was suffering from emotional issues after her fiance left her for another woman.

She was sentenced to death by the criminal court last September.

In the Appeals Court, ST denied deliberately harming the child, saying she had only dropped the baby by mistake.

Her lawyer argued that she was under severe emotional pressure and fatigue when she confessed.

Source: The National, January 21, 2014


Woman who beat and starved maid to death jailed for 15 years in Dubai

DUBAI - A woman has been jailed for 15 years for torturing and starving two maids, causing one of them to die.

Emirati RM, 45, a customer service officer, was also sentenced to another month for refusing to get medical help for Ethiopian maid, Khadija Kamel, who had pneumonia.

Her husband, Emirati AF, was jailed for three years for aiding and abetting his wife.

Prosecutors said the wife kept the maids locked up for two months in a room at her villa in Al Rashidiya, where they were tortured and refused food.

The other maid, Filipina EK, 29, testified that the wife beat them with sticks and banged their heads against the wall until they bled.

She said at times they were so hungry they were forced to search through dustbins for food.

The Filipina said she was punished by being made to drink cleaning products.

“She had me drink Clorox and Dettol because she did not like how I cleaned the bathroom,” the maid said.

Once, both maids were taken to the bathroom, where the wife stripped them of their clothes, took pictures of them naked and then threatened them with the images.

The wife claimed she could have them jailed as her husband worked in the courts.

The Filipina also said they were never allowed to talk to their families. “We were often not allowed to talk to each other,” she said.

Prosecutors said that two months before Kamel died, the husband prepared a room for the maids at the top of the villa, with iron bars across the windows.

There, the maids were starved for up to five days at a time. On another occasion, the wife gave one of the maids food and made the other one watch her eat.

The Emirati couple denied all charges when they appeared in court last June.

“No, I am not guilty,” the husband said.

His wife denied knowing anything about their injuries.

“I swear to God I didn’t touch them,” she said.

Medical records said both maids developed blood poisoning as a result of the abuse and malnourishment.

Kamel became so weak she could no longer move. Her death was hastened because she was forced to drink pesticide by the wife.

She weighed only 38 kilograms when she died.

“Four days before her death, [Kamel] was extremely sick and wasn’t able to walk or even go to bathroom,” the Filipina said.

“I begged R M to take her to hospital but she refused. When she died, R M offered me huge amounts of money to keep my mouth shut.”

Source: The National, January 21, 2014

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