Prosecution seeks to impeach convicted maid abuser for inconsistencies in statements

The prosecution is looking to impeach a convicted maid abuser for inconsistencies between a statement she gave in court as a witness and one she gave the police on the day the domestic helper died.

Prema S. Naraynasamy, 64, was in court to testify in the trial of her daughter’s former husband Kevin Chelvam, who is being tried on four charges, including removing evidence of the abuse in the form of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) recorder.

In court on Wednesday, Prema had said that after she had asked Chelvam to remove the device on July 26, 2016, the day the maid died, he refused, prompting her to scold him for his lack of concern for his wife Gaiyathiri Murugayan.

She said she then tried to pull out the wires and, afraid that she would get electrocuted, Chelvam ripped it out and threw it aside.

On Thursday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh highlighted that these facts were not in her police statement that was taken the day the maid Ms Piang Ngaih Don died and that Prema was blatantly attempting to change her evidence using her court testimony.

A witness is impeached by proving that his or her former statements are inconsistent to evidence given in court. An impeached witness is considered less credible, and what he or she says in court will be given less weight by the judge.

Prema said her initial statement was given when she was brought in for a murder charge and her thoughts were not coherent.

At some point during the proceedings, she also said that she was not trying to cover for Chelvam and DPP Teh asked her why she would bring that up.

DPP Teh will continue to argue his case for impeachment on Friday.

Thursday was the sixth day of Chelvam’s trial and the second day that Prema took the stand.

On Wednesday, Prema, who had previously admitted to multiple counts for abusing Ms Piang Ngaih Don, had painted a picture of having been close to the maid and keeping her well fed

To correct the image that the family had treated helper well, DPP Teh played a video in court on Thursday that showed Prema dragging the maid from the toilet to the bedroom and watching Gaiyathiri tie her to a window grille.

When the video – footage taken mere hours before the domestic helper died – started playing, Prema did not want to see it.

She said: “I have already admitted to all of this, and this is making me traumatised. I’m going through hell.”

Crying, the 64-year-old woman begged District Judge Teoh Ai Lin for the video not to be played.

After the judge allowed the video to be played, Prema appeared to lower her head as the court watched the video of the abuse that took place on July 25, 2016.

On Wednesday, Prema had also told the court that she and Ms Piang Ngaih Don were close.

When asked by DPP Teh on Thursday to explain what she meant by this, she said she gave her medicine when she was sick, helped her with household chores and sneaked her chocolate without others in the house knowing.

Highlighting the video, the prosecutor said the assault only a tiny fraction of the abuse that Prema inflicted on Ms Piang Ngaih Don.

“You were not close to the deceased – you were her abuser,” he said.

Prema said she disagreed, but then added that she abused Ms Piang Ngaih Don out of anger and that she would need to be told instructions repeatedly.

She had said on Wednesday that based on her observation, Ms Piang Ngaih Don would eat well and she was a good eater.

DPP Teh showed Prema a photo of the woman from Myanmar before she worked for the family and one taken during autopsy one day before she died.

He highlighted aspects from the autopsy report which included the fact that Ms Piang Ngaih Don’s stomach walls had loss of structure and were thin, and her intestines were shrunken.

When DPP Teh put to Prema that the weight Ms Piang Ngaih Don lost would have been visible, she said it would depend on one’s perception.

The maid weighed 39kg when she started working for Chelvam’s family and was a mere 24kg when she died. A senior consultant forensic pathologist said on Monday that her body mass index when she died was similar to that of someone suffering from advanced cancer or from extensive and widespread tuberculosis.

When DPP Teh put it to Prema that she, Gaiyathiri and Chelvam physically and psychologically abused Ms Piang Ngaih Don until she died, Prema said that while her daughter and she did so, she disagreed that her son-in-law was involved.

“Kevin is not involved as far as I know. It has been seven years and this is as far as I remember.” she said.

Chelvam is facing one charge for voluntarily causing hurt to Ms Piang Ngaih Don, as he is accused of grabbing her hair and lifting her body off the ground on June 24, 2016, at about 4 pm.

On Wednesday, when she was asked about this incident, Prema said she was scolding Ms Piang Ngaih Don to finish her food as the family, including the maid, was supposed to bring the children for a swim.

But Prema said Ms Piang Ngaih Don continued to eat at her own pace and at the same time she was falling asleep.

She added that Chelvam tried to wake her up by lifting her head and immediately released the grip of her hair after she noticed her lift off the ground.

She said Chelvam would not scold or raise his voice against Ms Piang Ngaih Don. “I’m not sure how to put it into words, but he is a kind person.”

DPP Teh on Thursday questioned the “glowing character reference” Prema gave her ex-son-in law, and said she was presenting a false version of events that is not depicted in the video footage and that he did in fact intend to hurt the maid.

The trial continues on Friday.