241:
struggle, Jaafar and Yacob used the raffia string to tie up
Sukarti, and even looped another around Sukarti's mouth. During the struggle however, the string somehow slipped around Sukarti's neck, and the two men claimed that they had accidentally used too much force, and thus Sukarti fell unconscious as a result of suffocation. While the men fingered each other as the one who truly strangled the victim while claiming their real roles were merely confined to ransacking the flat, both Jaafar and Yacob said that the victim was alive at the time they left the flat with her jewellery (which were all pawned but later recovered by the police). Aside from this, the court heard from Dr Wee Keng Poh, the forensic pathologist, that based on his autopsy of the victim, he determined that Sukarti died within five minutes of the strangulation, because the string was tightly wound and knotted around the neck with great force that this resulted in Sukarti dying from
252:(JC) Amarjeet Singh, the trial judge, delivered his verdict. In his judgement, JC Singh ruled that based on the evidence presented before him, he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that based on the prosecution's arguments, both Jaafar and Yacob had intentionally strangled the 78-year-old victim Sukarti binti Amari to death, which was the resultant of the strangulation. JC Singh also found that both men had the common intention to intrude Sukarti's flat with an attempt to rob her, and in furtherance of the intention, they strangled the victim to death. Therefore, both 35-year-old Yacob Rusmatullah and 30-year-old Mohamed Jaffar Abidin were found guilty of murder, and
216:; Yacob's actual sentence out of the five was two years' imprisonment and ten strokes of the cane. Yacob's two other offences were not known, although it was known that his third period of incarceration was six months' imprisonment in 1990. Like Jaafar, Yacob was also a drug addict who constantly serve time at drug rehabilitation centres, and his wife tried to persuade him to give up on drugs. Yacob had worked as a cleaner, general worker and security guard, but he did not have a permanent job due to his antecedents for drug consumption.
154:
because there were no signs of forced entry into the flat and based on the traces of chilli powder discovered on the victim's face, it was theorized that
Sukarti must have opened the door to allow the assailant(s) to enter her house before getting blinded by chilli powder, and later strangled to death. The possible motive for the murder was robbery, since eight rings, two gold chains, two gold bracelets and a pair of gold earrings worth S$ 5,000 were missing from the flat.
150:, a 65-year-old cleaner returned home only to find that his front door was locked. Unable to open the door, the cleaner went to one of the nearby blocks, where his nephew lived, so as to seek the nephew's help to open the door. The 48-year-old nephew used a hammer to force open the door (which took three hours or so), and upon entering the flat, both the nephew and his uncle were shocked to see the lifeless body of his aunt lying near to the front door.
273:'s three judges - S. Rajendran, L P Thean and Warren Khoo - ruled in their verdict that there was no doubt that in contrast to the other case where the boys unintentionally strangled the maid while trying to tie her up, both Yacob and Jaafar in this case had the clear intention to strangle the victim and in turn, cause her to die from suffocation. Therefore, the appeals of both Jaafar and Yacob were dismissed.
162:. Subsequently, the second suspect was also taken into police custody for killing 78-year-old Sukarti Amari. The first suspect, an 34-year-old odd-job worker Yacob Rusmatullah, was charged with murder on 6 May 1991, while the second suspect, 29-year-old Mohamed Jaafar Abidin (unemployed), was charged on 7 May the next day for murder. Under the
237:
string to tie up and gag
Sukarti. This plan was first conceived by Jaafar, who happened to be at the same block visiting his mother the day before the murder when he chanced upon Sukarti, and witnessed the elderly woman draped in numerous gold valuables. Jaafar thus discussed the plan with Yacob, and they agreed to do so.
153:
The victim was identified as 78-year-old
Sukarti binti Amari, a housewife who was nicknamed "Walking jewellery shop" by her neighbours due to her possession of a large amount of valuables and herself wearing the jewellery whenever going outside. Sukarti was speculated to have known her assailant(s),
114:
flat by her nephew and husband. Her eight rings, gold chains and other jewellery worth S$ 5,000 were missing from the flat. Two suspects were arrested at least three months later for
Sukarti's murder. It was established that both the killers had planned to enter Sukarti's flat to commit robbery, and
268:
against their convictions and sentences. Both the men's lawyers
Michael Khoo and James Masih argued in the appeal that their clients did not intend to strangle Sukarti and only meant to rob, citing an unrelated, yet similar case where two youths strangled a Filipino maid during a burglary but were
228:
for the charge of murdering
Sukarti binti Amari. Sheik Mustafa Abu Hassan and Shanti Abdul Ghani were assigned to prosecute both Yacob and Jaafar for murder, and Yacob was represented by both N. Ganesan and Francis Xavier while Jaafar was defended by both Anthony Lim and Michael Teo. The trial was
211:
The other suspect, Yacob
Rusmatullah, was married with five children (aged between six and eleven as of 1993) since 1980. Prior to his latest arrest for murder, Yacob had been imprisoned thrice for other offences. While his criminal record was not entirely known, a 1975 newspaper article revealed
207:
According to sources, one of the suspects
Mohamed Jaafar Abidin, who was the eldest of seven children in the family, was constantly in and out of drug rehabilitation centres for drug consumption. Jaafar's parents divorced when he was young, and they were remarried at the time their eldest son was
236:
It was the prosecution's case that both Yacob and Jaafar had the plan to enter the flat of
Sukarti to commit robbery. Based on the men's statements, the two men devised a plan to make Sukarti open the door and they would use chilli powder to blind the elderly woman's eyes, before they use raffia
240:
In their statements and defence, both Jaafar and Yacob stated that they never intended to strangle Sukarti to death. Both recounted that after they entered the flat and threw the chilli powder into Sukarti's eyes, they forced the victim back inside the flat, and while Sukarti put up a fierce
208:
charged with murder. Jaafar, who shared a flat with two of his brothers, was unemployed and unable to find a stable job as a result of his addiction and stints at the drug rehabilitation centre, and had to depend on the allowance provided by his siblings and relatives.
187:
212:
that Yacob, then 18 years old, was one of the five teenage convicts (aged between 17 and 21) responsible for robbing two men of their cash, gold necklace and watch. In this case, all five robbers were sentenced to a total of twelve years' imprisonment and
204:, Singapore. Sukarti was a housewife while her husband worked as a cleaner. It was reported that eight months after the death of his wife, Karnawi married for the third time with an Indonesian woman and moved on with his life, but he still missed Sukarti.
179:
157:
Three months later, on 4 May 1991, The police managed to identify a suspect and arrested him for killing Sukarti. Soon after the first suspect's arrest, his alleged accomplice was found to be detained at a drug rehabilitation centre at
99:
199:
to Singapore. Prior to his marriage with Sukarti, Karnawi was previously married to an unknown woman back in Indonesia during the 1940s. Sukarti and her husband had no children, but they had a nephew who lived near them in
194:
Sukarti binti Amari, an Indonesian-born Singaporean, was born in 1913. She married her Indonesian-born husband Karnawi bin Kaliman (who was 13 years younger than her) sometime in the 1950s when he immigrated from
134:
found that both Yacob and Jaafar had intentionally strangled the victim with the view to cause her death by asyphxia and therefore, both men were found guilty of the murder, and
985:
975:
960:
970:
950:
276:
Subsequently, both the offenders of the Sukarti murder case petitioned for clemency per their final bid to escape the gallows. However, then
955:
256:. Reportedly, Jaafar and Yacob were motionless and calm when sentence was pronounced, but their mothers cried openly at the verdict.
138:
on 13 April 1993. The Sukarti murderers were both hanged on 26 August 1994 after their appeals against the death sentence failed.
980:
307:
253:
167:
135:
89:
867:
965:
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579:
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561:
471:
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249:
230:
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On 26 August 1994, 32-year-old Mohamed Jaffar Abidin and 37-year-old Yacob Rusmatullah were hanged at
284:
213:
115:
they devised using chilli powder to blind the deceased before restraining her and strangling her.
298:
drug trafficker Emmanuel Anyanwu, was put to death at the same timing as both Jaafar and Yacob.
224:
On 22 March 1993, both Mohamed Jaafar Abidin and Yacob Rusmatullah were brought to trial at the
186:
280:
178:
939:
291:
201:
190:
Mohamed Jaafar bin Abidin, one of the two suspects accused of murdering Sukarti Amari
147:
111:
36:
127:
130:) - argued that there was no intention to strangle Sukarti other than to rob, the
182:
Yacob s/o Rusmatullah, one of the two suspects accused of murdering Sukarti Amari
295:
196:
159:
40:
98:
242:
580:"Two men blinded woman, 78, with chilli powder and strangled her: DPP"
294:. On the same date at the same prison, a third convict, a 28-year-old
265:
102:
Sukarti Amari, the 78-year-old housewife found murdered in her flat.
185:
177:
97:
16:
1991 case of an elderly woman killed by two robbers in Singapore
269:
both jailed for manslaughter. However, on 25 March 1994, the
264:
After the end of their murder trial, both Yacob and Jaafar
724:"Chilli powder pair get death for strangling woman"
146:On the evening of 12 February 1991, at Singapore's
85:
68:
54:
46:
32:
24:
346:"Laporan tunjukkan nenek dijerut sebelum dirompak"
106:On 12 February 1991, a 78-year-old housewife
8:
166:, offenders found guilty of murder would be
19:
562:"Mati akibat rompakan: Dua lelaki dibicara"
400:"Odd-job man held for murder of old woman"
118:Although the two defendants - 34-year-old
18:
382:"Murdered woman: Walking jewellery shop"
287:, reject the two men's clemency appeal.
796:"Two in chilli powder case lose appeal"
319:
233:(JC) Amarjeet Singh of the High Court.
986:Singaporean people convicted of murder
472:"Murder of old woman: Two men charged"
364:"Woman, 78, found robbed and murdered"
245:due to strangulation around her neck.
7:
976:Deaths by strangulation in Singapore
961:20th-century executions by Singapore
971:Violence against women in Singapore
526:"Five robbers get jail, 52 lashes"
490:"Remarried to forget wife's death"
14:
283:decided to, on the advice of the
951:Capital punishment in Singapore
308:Capital punishment in Singapore
110:was found murdered inside her
1:
910:(in Chinese). 26 August 1994.
892:(in Chinese). 27 August 1994.
856:(in Chinese). 27 August 1994.
352:(in Malay). 14 February 1991.
838:(in Chinese). 25 March 1994.
820:(in Chinese). 25 March 1994.
784:(in Chinese). 13 April 1993.
766:(in Chinese). 13 April 1993.
748:(in Chinese). 14 April 1993.
712:(in Chinese). 23 March 1993.
694:(in Chinese). 23 March 1993.
676:(in Chinese). 24 March 1993.
640:(in Chinese). 23 March 1993.
622:(in Chinese). 25 March 1993.
604:(in Chinese). 22 March 1993.
544:"Jobless — because of drugs"
508:"In and out of drug centres"
334:(in Chinese). 22 March 1993.
922:"Three hanged in Singapore"
616:"被告口供书 见老妇戴金饰起盗心目的在抢劫无意取她命"
436:"Buruh didakwa bunuh nenek"
220:Murder trial and sentencing
1002:
568:(in Malay). 23 March 1993.
956:1991 murders in Singapore
688:"'流动珠宝店'老妇劫杀案 拉菲绳勒颈五分钟断气"
460:(in Chinese). 8 May 1991.
424:(in Chinese). 7 May 1991.
124:Mohamed Jaafar bin Abidin
78:Mohamed Jaafar Abidin, 29
868:"Three hanged in Changi"
634:"入屋抢劫用绳勒死女屋主两男子面对谋杀罪名审讯"
598:"外号'流动珠宝店' 老妇穿金戴银 抗盗遭勒死"
981:Deaths by strangulation
442:(in Malay). 7 May 1991.
164:Penal Code of Singapore
20:Murder of Sukarti Amari
278:President of Singapore
260:Executions of convicts
214:52 strokes of the cane
191:
183:
103:
966:Female murder victims
886:"谋财害命 勒死老妇 2杀人犯•昨晨正法"
250:Judicial Commissioner
231:Judicial Commissioner
189:
181:
120:Yacob s/o Rusmatullah
101:
75:Yacob Rusmatullah, 34
814:"天网恢恢 上诉遭驳回 两劫匪难逃死罪"
670:"2被告 互指对方 用拉菲绳 勒死老妇"
946:Murder in Singapore
832:"外号"流动珠宝店" 老妇遭劫匪勒死"
388:. 13 February 1991.
370:. 13 February 1991.
108:Sukarti binti Amari
21:
254:sentenced to death
248:On 13 April 1993,
192:
184:
168:sentenced to death
136:sentenced to death
104:
92:(Yacob and Jaafar)
928:. 27 August 1994.
874:. 27 August 1994.
872:The Straits Times
800:The Straits Times
728:The Straits Times
652:"STRING OF DEATH"
584:The Straits Times
530:The Straits Times
476:The Straits Times
404:The Straits Times
368:The Straits Times
96:
95:
61:Sukarti Amari, 78
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802:. 27 March 1994.
792:
786:
785:
778:"劫杀古稀老妇案 两被告判死刑"
774:
768:
767:
760:"带辣椒粉和绳子上门劫杀老富婆"
756:
750:
749:
742:"抢首饰酿成命案两凶手被判死刑"
738:
732:
731:
730:. 14 April 1993.
720:
714:
713:
706:"法医： 死者被人 用绳勒颈死"
702:
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586:. 23 March 1993.
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122:and 29-year-old
28:12 February 1991
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936:
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904:"尼日利亚商人 贩毒被叛死刑"
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658:. 4 April 1994.
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550:. 4 April 1994.
542:
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514:. 4 April 1994.
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496:. 4 April 1994.
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281:Ong Teng Cheong
271:Court of Appeal
262:
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144:
126:(who were both
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17:
12:
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5:
999:
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890:Shin Min Daily
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841:
823:
818:Shin Min Daily
805:
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782:Shin Min Daily
769:
751:
733:
715:
710:Shin Min Daily
697:
679:
674:Shin Min Daily
661:
643:
625:
607:
602:Shin Min Daily
589:
571:
553:
535:
532:. 20 May 1975.
517:
499:
481:
463:
454:"又一男子被控杀害马来老妇"
445:
427:
409:
391:
373:
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908:Lianhe Wanbao
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854:Lianhe Zaobao
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836:Lianhe Wanbao
833:
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764:Lianhe Wanbao
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746:Lianhe Zaobao
743:
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719:
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692:Lianhe Wanbao
689:
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638:Lianhe Zaobao
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620:Lianhe Zaobao
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566:Berita Harian
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478:. 8 May 1991.
477:
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467:
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459:
458:Lianhe Zaobao
455:
449:
446:
441:
440:Berita Harian
437:
431:
428:
423:
422:Lianhe Zaobao
419:
418:"马来老妇命案一嫌凶落网"
413:
410:
406:. 6 May 1991.
405:
401:
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350:Berita Harian
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332:Lianhe Wanbao
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292:Changi Prison
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202:Telok Blangah
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148:Telok Blangah
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112:Telok Blangah
109:
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91:
90:Death penalty
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37:Telok Blangah
35:
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27:
23:
926:Upi Archives
925:
916:
907:
898:
889:
880:
871:
862:
853:
850:"两名杀人犯昨天上绞台"
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229:presided by
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128:Singaporeans
123:
119:
117:
107:
105:
328:"辣椒粉撒眼劫杀老妇"
940:Categories
314:References
226:High Court
174:Background
132:High Court
656:New Paper
548:New Paper
512:New Paper
494:New Paper
386:New Paper
197:Indonesia
160:Sembawang
69:Convicted
41:Singapore
302:See also
296:Nigerian
266:appealed
243:asphyxia
86:Sentence
33:Location
285:Cabinet
50:Robbery
142:Murder
55:Deaths
47:Motive
25:Date
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170:.
39:,
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