Public Prosecutor v Selvaraju s/o Satippan

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tay Yong Kwang J
• Judgment Date: 26 July 2004
• Neutral Citation: [2004] SGHC 154
• Date: 26 July 2004
• Subject Matter: Property,Whether amounting to demand for "ransom",Section 307(1) Penal Code (Cap 224, 1985 Rev Ed),Offences,Statutory offences,Mischief by fire,Whether act still falling within ambit of Kidnapping Act,Criminal Law,Section 436 Penal Code (Cap 224, 1985 Rev Ed),Mischief,Location of kidnap victim and kidnapper and identity of kidnapper known,Section 3 Kidnapping Act (Cap 151, 1999 Rev Ed),Voluntarily causing hurt,Kidnapping Act,Attempted murder,Section 324 Penal Code (Cap 224, 1985 Rev Ed),Demand for moneys kidnapper believed owing to him,Hurt,Whether acts of accused constituting wrongful confinement
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 19 of 2004
• Published date: 31 July 2004
• Defendant Counsel: Mohan Das Naidu (Mohan Das Naidu and Partners) and Tey Tsun Hang (Drew and Napier LLC)
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Plaintiff Counsel: Cheng Howe Ming and Deborah Tan (Deputy Public Prosecutors)

26 July 2004

Tay Yong Kwang J:

1 The accused is a 45-year-old male Indian Singaporean. He was unemployed at the time of his arrest. He was tried before me on the following four charges:

That you, Selvaraju s/o Satippan

1st Charge: on the 7^th day of August 2003, at or about 1.18 pm, at 1 Cotswold Close, Singapore, did commit mischief by fire, to wit, by setting fire to the clothes inside the wardrobe in the bedroom occupied by one Nina Elizabeth Varghese, knowing it to be likely that you would thereby cause the destruction of the said house, which was a building ordinarily used as a place for human dwelling, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under section 436 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

2nd Charge: on the 7^th day of August 2003, sometime between 10.00 am and 1.20 pm, at 1 Cotswold Close, Singapore, with intent to hold one Nina Elizabeth Varghese, female 22 years old, for ransom, wrongfully confined the said Nina Elizabeth Varghese, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under section 3 of the Kidnapping Act, Chapter 151.

3rd Charge: on the 7^th day of August 2003, sometime between 10.00 am and 1.20 pm at 1 Cotswold Close, Singapore, did voluntarily cause hurt to one Nina Elizabeth Varghese, female 22 years old, by means of an instrument for cutting, to wit, a kitchen knife, by chopping the left forearm of the said Nina Elizabeth Varghese with the said kitchen knife, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under section 324 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

…

9th Charge: on the 7^th day of August 2003, sometime at or about 1.20 pm at 1 Cotswold Close, Singapore, did attempt to murder Nina Elizabeth Varghese, female 22 years old, by holding a knife above your head aimed at her skull and plunging it down towards her head, with the intention of causing death to the said Nina Elizabeth Varghese, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under section 307(1) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

The Prosecution’s case

2 The Varghese family resides at 1 Cotswold Close, Singapore. The house is a single storey bungalow. The members of the family involved in this trial were Roy Abraham Varghese (“Roy”), his wife, Susheela Varghese (“Susheela”), and their daughter, Nina Elizabeth Varghese (“Nina”). Roy is a Financial Advisor Representative with Ipac Financial Planning Singapore Private Limited. Nina is a journalist. Roy’s father-in-law is in the business of buying and selling properties. His house is a short distance away from Roy’s.

3 On Thursday, 7 August 2003, at about 7.00am, the Vargheses left their home. At about 9.45am, a domestic maid working in the Vargheses’ home, Madanahalu Gedara Subadrawathie (“the maid”), was having breakfast in the kitchen when she heard the doorbell ring. She ignored it. The doorbell rang again, this time continuously. The maid walked to the hall to look out of the house. She saw an Indian man (the accused) standing outside the gates. She then went out of the house and walked towards the gates.

4 The accused, whom she had not met before, looked at her fiercely. She asked for his name and the purpose of his visit. He did not tell her his name but said he wanted to talk to her boss and also wanted some money. When she told him her boss was not at home, he asked her to call him. She then told him she did not have the telephone number of her boss but would call her boss’ wife. He said it was useless to speak to her boss’ wife and insisted on talking to her boss. He then asked her to open the gates but she claimed she did not have the key for the small gate or the remote control for the main gates.

5 The maid started walking back towards the house. When she turned around to look at the accused, she saw him climbing over the fence. He had taken off his shoes and had thrown them into the compound of the house. She shouted for help. He was carrying what appeared to her to be a small foldable knife and warned her not to shout or he would kill her. He covered her mouth with his hand and pointed the knife at her neck

6 They then went into the kitchen with the accused holding on to her neck tightly. He took a kitchen knife from the holder and threatened to kill her if she cried or shouted for help. Pointing the kitchen knife at her neck, he led her to Susheela’s bedroom and asked the maid to get jewellery and money from the room. She claimed there were no valuables inside the room. The accused then asked her to close the curtains in that room. He then made her pull out the telephone wire from the wall and the telephone. He took the telephone wire and led her out of the bedroom.

7 The accused asked the maid to close all the curtains in the house. He also asked her to lock the door that opened from the driveway into the house but she told him it was already locked. He wanted to use the telephone wire to tie her up but she pleaded with him to allow her to call Susheela to inform her of what was happening at home. Eventually, he agreed to let her make a call and told her to inform Susheela to bring money home or he would kill the maid. Before the maid could telephone Susheela, the accused changed his mind and told her not to make the call.

8 At that moment, Nina rang the door bell. The maid told the accused the Vargheses’ elder daughter had returned home. He asked the maid to open the automatic gates from inside the house and she did so. Nina then walked into the compound of the house.

9 The accused told the maid to unlock the door leading into the house but not to open it. He then pulled her into the bathroom in Nina’s bedroom. There, the maid shouted “Nina” but the accused covered her mouth and warned her not to shout or he would kill her.

10 When Nina entered her bedroom, still talking on her mobile phone, the accused pushed her against a wall and told her not to shout. She felt something sharp pressed against the right side of her neck. He grabbed her mobile phone and switched it off. Nina started to scream and there was yelling and some commotion in the bedroom.

11 When things calmed down, Nina asked to be allowed to sit down. She sat on her bed. She then asked the accused what he wanted. Still holding the knife, he told her he wanted money and asked her for $150,000 or he would kill her. He then asked the maid to shut the two top-hung windows in the bathroom and to close the bathroom door and the curtains in the bedroom. The bathroom’s windows had grilles which were spaced widely apart. The maid was then instructed to sit on Nina’s bed. Immediately thereafter, he asked the maid to lock the bathroom windows but to leave the bathroom door open.

12 He then handed Nina her mobile phone and told her to call her mother to bring the said amount of money home and not to contact the police or he would kill Nina. She wanted to call her father instead as she felt her father was a stronger person. However, the accused denied her request without giving any reason.

13 Nina telephoned her mother and told her there was an intruder in their home and asked her to go home immediately. She also requested that her mother not bring her father or the police along. Susheela was shocked but agreed to comply.

14 At about 10.00am, Roy received a telephone call from his wife informing him that Nina called her to say that there was an intruder in their home. His wife asked him to return home quickly. Roy then asked his colleague to call the police. She did so.

15 Subsequently, the accused made Nina call her mother again. This time, he spoke to her and told her to bring $150,000 but not the police or he would kill Nina.

16 Nina’s mobile phone rang several times after that but the accused would merely pick up the calls without saying anything. He then decided to tie Nina up. He pulled out some wire from the computer’s speakers next to her bed and cut a length of it with the knife he was holding. He held her hands to her front and instructed the maid to tie Nina’s wrists. While the maid was doing so, the accused took over and tightened the wire over her wrists.

17 The accused became impatient and told Nina to call her mother to hurry and not to bring the police or he would kill Nina. Nina complied. She then started a conversation with the accused, hoping to calm him and to dissuade him from killing her. He appeared very nervous and kept looking out of the window for movements. She asked him about his background and was told he was 45 years old and divorced with no children. He claimed he had no ties in Singapore and intended to leave for and retire in New Zealand or Switzerland with the money that he wanted. If he could not achieve his aim that day, he would kill Nina and then commit suicide.

18 He also mentioned to Nina that he had been a construction worker with ten men working under him and was educated up to the Primary 6 level. He was last employed in January 2003. She offered to find him a job but he turned her down. She then negotiated with him on the amount asked for and managed to lower it to $50,000.

19 The accused then noticed some movement outside the bathroom windows and asked the maid to open one of them. When she did so, they saw Roy standing outside. Roy had returned home and had climbed over the fence into the compound. The accused and Nina were standing at the entrance of the bathroom with the accused pointing the knife at Nina’s neck. Roy addressed the accused as “Sir” and asked him how he could help him. The accused told him he only wanted $150,000 in cash or else he would kill Nina and then commit suicide. Roy asked the accused whether he (Roy) knew him. The accused said he knew Roy. Roy then told the accused he (Roy) did not know him and that he did not have $150,000 but could possibly get $50,000. The accused agreed to lower his demand to that figure.

20 It occurred to Nina that the accused could be one Raj who had been making prank calls to her family’s fixed-line telephone as well as her mobile phone. When she asked him whether he was...