During the first few months of a relationship, couples usually float around on a honeymoon high with PDA-ing and all that cloying lovestruck stuff. But not so much for one 20-year-old woman, whose boyfriend of merely one month beat her senseless for almost two hours just for disobeying him. Abandoning her dead body on Sept 15 last year, 28-year-old Zulkifri Said fled the country with his mother.
It was only on Sept 22 that the police investigated the flat at Banda Street in Chinatown after receiving complaints from neighbors about a “rotten meat” stink permeating the air. When officers broke into the unit, they discovered the maggot-infested corpse of the victim still dressed in a gown and headscarf. Her body was blackened, her eyeballs were missing, and everything was so decomposed beyond recognition that the cause of death could not be determined or directly pinned on Zulkifri, Channel NewsAsia reported.
The court heard that the victim had moved in with Zulkifri and his mother after they met and started dating in August last year. Unfortunately, the relationship turned sour quickly and Zulkifri attempted to evict her, but she refused to go.
Zulkifri assaulted her with a belt and clothes hangers, but even then, she did not hit back or defend herself, according to him. She soon began to bruise and bleed, and then shivered and fell to the floor. Zulkifri picked her up and put her on the bed, but realized her body was stiff and she was foaming at the mouth.
Fearful that he would be questioned about her injuries, Zulkifri, along with his 63-year-old mother, attempted to dress her in a gown and headscarf. He also claimed he used his asthma inhaler on her. Neither one called for an ambulance.
Zulkifri said his initial intention was to leave her at the void deck, in hopes that someone else would find her. But he eventually decided not to, and simply left her on the bed until she breathed her last. Then he put a prayer book on her chest, packed a bag, and fled with his mother and their two cats.
The cats went to his mother’s sister’s flat in Jurong, and the pair took a cab to Johor Baru at around 3:30am. Both stayed at a hostel in Larkin for several days until they ran out of money and had to return. Upon their arrival back in Singapore on Sept 23, Zulkifri and his mother were promptly arrested.
On Wednesday (Aug 23), he pleaded guilty to five charges, including two for assault and one for not reporting the death, and was sentenced to two years and three months in jail. His mother was given a stern warning in lieu of prosecution for failing to report the death.
District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt took into account the lack of evidence that likely limited the prosecution — had they gone ahead with harsher charges, Zulkifri’s sentence could have been more severe.
“We don’t know if the deceased was actually beaten to death or if the beating led to a stroke or (a fatal) epileptic episode,” prosecutors explained, but noted that her final moments “must have been terrifying and painful”.
