A woman was so adamant about not letting her estranged husband see their three-year-old son that she took the little boy along with her when she ended her life last year.
At a joint coroner’s inquest yesterday into the drownings of Ms Tan Sze Sze and Jeral Chin Le Hui, the court heard that the 31-year-old woman had written “revenge” multiple times on a photocopy of her husband’s birth certificate found on her.
In a separate note, she said she wanted her husband, Mr Willy Chin Yen Hing, 34, to “die with us”.
The two bodies were found in Bedok Reservoir on Sept 22 last year.
Both wore red, and their fingernails and toenails were painted red.
A few days earlier, Ms Tan had received a letter informing her that she had been fined $1,500 for failing to turn up in court over child access issues with her husband.
The court heard that Mr Chin, a chef, had not seen his wife and child for almost a year.
Describing the case as tragic, State Coroner Imran Abdul Hamid said in his findings that her hatred for her husband had resulted in her killer instinct overcoming her maternal one.
It was also unfortunate her symptoms of depression were not caught and treated.
She had mentioned taking her life to her mother and sister several times, and said she would take her son with her.
In his report, Sergeant Muhammad Firdaus Ibrahim from Bedok Police Station said Ms Tan had been feeling unhappy and stressed since the birth of her son.
Ms Tan, who had been treated for anxiety and depression, lived with her mum for eight months after the child’s birth, and agreed to live with her husband on weekends.
After a disagreement with her in-laws, she moved back to her mother’s.
Once, when Jeral hurt his nose after tripping over his toys at her husband’s home, she blamed him and his family for not taking good care of him.
When she refused to let her husband have child access, he engaged a lawyer and was granted access in June 2010.
However, she still refused to let him see the boy.
Out of anger, he told her he wanted a divorce, but he had no intention of going ahead with it.
Ms Tan, the court heard, also felt depressed over the letters she received to attend court, but she refused to go.
Since January 2010, she had been telling her mother she wanted to die.
On Sept 20 last year, she took her son to look for her mother in Clementi Central, where the latter worked.
She said it was her grandfather’s and father’s death anniversary, and it would be her death date too.
She also said she wanted to take revenge on her husband.
She later called her mother and said she was by the seaside, and wanted to end her life.
She did not give her location.
When the police were informed, they conducted an island wide search but could not find the pair until their bodies were found two days later.
