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July 10, 2009
Mum jailed for killing son
By K C Vijayan
<a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090710/mother.jpg"><img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090710/mother.jpg"></a>
Madam Kang swallowed 50 tablets meant for high blood pressure and cut her own wrists with a penknife. -- PHOTO: SHIN MIN
A DEPRESSED woman who killed her son in a murder-cum-suicide bid was jailed for seven years on Friday.
Kang Ka Li, 37, a single parent, pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of culpable homicide for the death of her 12-year-old son Tan Eu-Jin, a secondary one student.
Psychiatrists found Kang to be suffering from an " abnormality of the mind " that impaired her mental responsibility for her actions at the time of the killing.
Justice Chan Seng Onn said he passed the sentence" with a heavy heart", noting the greater pain for Kang was not so much in the sentence but in the death of her son who died by her hands. He described the case as " tragic and unfortunate", adding that all that Kang was left with of her son are " fond memories."
Kang committed the killing on May 15 last year in their Toa Payoh Lorong 2 flat, the night before she was due to show up in court for forgery charges. She had been living there with her parents and only child.
The court heard she fed her son with sedatives at about 10.30 pm and he kissed her goodnight. She then wrote three letters to her family, boyfriend and ex-husband.
At about 1 am, after a shower, she took some pills with beer and then sat next to her sleeping son. She then tied her son's ankles and wrists, and then used a towel to suffocate him. The boy woke up, struggled for a while and then became motionless as she continued to press his nose.
It was now her turn. Madam Kang swallowed 50 tablets meant for high blood pressure and cut her own wrists with a penknife. Minutes later she called her boyfriend Andrew Chan on the handphone and he suspected something amiss. He immediately rushed to the flat.
He woke her parents and they found her in the room with her son lying lifeless after she heeded their pleas and unlocked the bedroom door. Both were rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where the boy was pronounced dead. She was arrested.
Kang's lawyer Edmond Pereira urged the court to consider her circumstances and imposed a lenient sentence.
He said Kang, a divorcee, had been depressed for some time after she lost her job and faced financial problems. She resorted to forging a letter in a bid to obtain credit facilities. When she was found out and due to appear in court she decided to take her own life.
But she wanted to kill her son because she said she could not trust anyone to take care of him when she was not alive.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng had sought a jail term of more than eight years, referring to past cases and stressing that Kang needed long term care. Kang also had a previous five-week jail term for cheating.
Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
July 10, 2009
Mum jailed for killing son
By K C Vijayan
<a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090710/mother.jpg"><img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090710/mother.jpg"></a>
Madam Kang swallowed 50 tablets meant for high blood pressure and cut her own wrists with a penknife. -- PHOTO: SHIN MIN
A DEPRESSED woman who killed her son in a murder-cum-suicide bid was jailed for seven years on Friday.
Kang Ka Li, 37, a single parent, pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of culpable homicide for the death of her 12-year-old son Tan Eu-Jin, a secondary one student.
Psychiatrists found Kang to be suffering from an " abnormality of the mind " that impaired her mental responsibility for her actions at the time of the killing.
Justice Chan Seng Onn said he passed the sentence" with a heavy heart", noting the greater pain for Kang was not so much in the sentence but in the death of her son who died by her hands. He described the case as " tragic and unfortunate", adding that all that Kang was left with of her son are " fond memories."
Kang committed the killing on May 15 last year in their Toa Payoh Lorong 2 flat, the night before she was due to show up in court for forgery charges. She had been living there with her parents and only child.
The court heard she fed her son with sedatives at about 10.30 pm and he kissed her goodnight. She then wrote three letters to her family, boyfriend and ex-husband.
At about 1 am, after a shower, she took some pills with beer and then sat next to her sleeping son. She then tied her son's ankles and wrists, and then used a towel to suffocate him. The boy woke up, struggled for a while and then became motionless as she continued to press his nose.
It was now her turn. Madam Kang swallowed 50 tablets meant for high blood pressure and cut her own wrists with a penknife. Minutes later she called her boyfriend Andrew Chan on the handphone and he suspected something amiss. He immediately rushed to the flat.
He woke her parents and they found her in the room with her son lying lifeless after she heeded their pleas and unlocked the bedroom door. Both were rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where the boy was pronounced dead. She was arrested.
Kang's lawyer Edmond Pereira urged the court to consider her circumstances and imposed a lenient sentence.
He said Kang, a divorcee, had been depressed for some time after she lost her job and faced financial problems. She resorted to forging a letter in a bid to obtain credit facilities. When she was found out and due to appear in court she decided to take her own life.
But she wanted to kill her son because she said she could not trust anyone to take care of him when she was not alive.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng had sought a jail term of more than eight years, referring to past cases and stressing that Kang needed long term care. Kang also had a previous five-week jail term for cheating.
