IN A verdict that surprised courtroom and accused alike, Indonesian maid Sundarti Supriyanto, who killed her employer and then razed her Bukit Merah office to cover up the crime, escaped the gallows yesterday.

Sundarti, 25, one of five maids charged with murder here, stabbed Madam Angie Ng, 34, to death on May 28, 2002, and then set the office alight. The fire also killed Madam Ng's three-year-old daughter, Crystal Poh.

In the High Court yesterday, Madam Ng's family members looked stunned after the verdict was read out by Justice M.P.H. Rubin.

Sundarti initially looked surprised but recovered quickly and bowed to her lawyer, Mr Mohamed Muzammil, then clasped his hands and pressed them to her lips before a courtroom packed with embassy officials and journalists.

In convicting the woman of the lesser charge, Justice Rubin said he was convinced that Sundarti had been abused by Madam Ng, and lost control of herself after being provoked yet again.

He acknowledged that there were many lies in Sundarti's testimony, but said he was convinced that she had been abused 'in general'.

He added that the maid had to be in a frenzy to inflict the kind of injuries found on Madam Ng, who had several gaping wounds on her arms. Her left hand was nearly severed at the wrist.

'She must have been so blind with rage that she lost control over herself and lashed out repeatedly at the deceased,' he said.

In his written grounds of judgment, the judge explained why he rejected the prosecution's attempts to discredit Sundarti's allegations of abuse.

Yes, her claim that Madam Ng forced her to eat faeces was 'extravagant'.

True, no one saw Madam Ng abusing her maid.

But, the judge said, 'I felt it was not necessary to analyse whether each and every incident of abuse actually occurred before I made a finding that the accused was indeed abused in general.'

Employees at Madam Ng's office had testified that their boss did not allow her maid to eat or let others feed her, and such incidents supported Sundarti's claims.

Yesterday's events capped a drama that began two years ago when firemen, responding to a call about a fire, found Sundarti clutching Madam Ng's second child, Leon, then 18 months old.

Sundarti initially said the fire broke out after masked men came into the office.

But police later found video footage and a receipt indicating that she had bought petrol at a nearby station.

After she was arrested for the crime, she admitted starting the fire, but denied that she killed her employer.

During the 27-day trial, the prosecution sought to paint her as a cold-blooded murderer.

The defence's stand was that the maid, who had worked for Madam Ng for three weeks before the killings, was a victim of abuse who had lashed out.

In court yesterday, Sundarti apologised to Madam Ng's husband, Mr Drake Poh, by reading from a note. She urged him to accept her 'deepest apology for the events... which had brought tragedy and grief to him'.

But Mr Poh, 45, would have none of it. The managing director of a labour supply company seethed outside court. When asked for his reaction, he said: 'I'm not accepting the apology at all.'

Sundarti's mother, however, was a picture of relief. Madam Binarti, 51, said in Bahasa Indonesia: 'I'm happy the court spared her, and I am very grateful to the lawyer and the embassy.'

Credits The Straits Times