Defence lawyers Amarick Gill and S. Ramanujen sought 15 years’ jail for their client, noting Hasmah’s plea of guilt, which has saved the time of the court and the 49 prosecution witnesses who were set to testify at the trial.
Mr Gill said his client is remorseful, adding: “Hasmah apologises to the victim, both for what she has done, and also what her children have done. Both Hasmah and the defence concede that the abuse inflicted on the victim was horrendous and it was fortuitous that the victim did not perish.”
Justice Valerie Thean said the offences were horrific, noting that Hasmah had betrayed the victim’s trust, forced her into servitude and left her with permanent consequences.
In meting out the sentence, she said: “I make clear that I have taken into account that (Hasmah) is 73 years and seven months of age in making these orders. If not for her age, I would have made more offences run consecutively and the total sentence would have been more than 20 years.”
In 2020 and 2021, five members of Hasmah’s family were sentenced for their roles in this case.
Haslinda, who urinated into a packet of hor fun and forced the victim to eat the soiled food, was
sentenced to 8½ years’ jail.
Hasniza, who chained the victim to a metal plate fixed to a wall and hit her with a baseball bat, was
sentenced to three years’ jail and ordered to pay $1,000 in compensation to the victim.
Two of Hasmah’s sons, Muhammad Iskandar Ismail and Muhammad Iski Ismail, were
sentenced to jail terms of two months and four weeks, and eight months, respectively. Iskandar had slapped, punched and tripped the victim, while Iski provided a false statement to the police and perverted the course of justice.
In 2020, Haslinda’s husband Hany Aboubakr Abdelkarim Abdelfattah was
sentenced to three weeks’ jail for assaulting the victim.