An Indonesian domestic worker named Nurhidayati Wartono Surata, 34, was allegedly killed in Singapore on Sunday at the hands of a 30-year-old Bangladeshi named Ahmed Salim.
Nurhidayati’s lifeless body was found in a room at the Golden Dragon Hotel in Geylang on Sunday evening with marks on her neck and bruises on her arms. Salim was arrested the next day and charged with murder.
News about Nurhidayati’s murder devastated her parents, who live in the Indramayu regency of West Java. Nurhidayati’s mother, Warsem, said she was on the phone with her daughter on Sunday morning but was unable to reach her again in the evening. The next day, she received a call from the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore delivering the shocking news.
Warsem said she knew of Salim as she and Nurhidayati had often talked about her life in Singapore.
“Salim was arranged to be married to a Bangladeshi woman by his parents, but he didn’t want to let go of my daughter as his girlfriend,” she said, as quoted by Liputan 6 today.
Warsem added that Nurhidayati often complained about Salim and that he always refused her attempts to break up with him. Warsem also said she had advised Nurhidayati to find another job in Hong Kong to get away from Salim, but Nurhidayati was loyal to her employer in Singapore.
On Sunday, Nurhidayati told her mother that she was going to meet up with Salim at the hotel to pay around IDR5 million (US$350) that she owed him. She planned on ending her relationship with Salim after that and was going to come home on Jan 15.
Sadly, Nurhidayati never made it home.
Her stepfather, Muradi, said she was the backbone of the family, having spent her earnings to buy him and Warsem a house.
“My daughter even managed to buy us land and a house, which was renovated in December. I was in charge of the renovations before my daughter was supposed to come home,” he said.
Nurhidayati has an 11-year-old son from her previous marriage and she also had plans to buy a house for the two of them.
Nurhidayati had worked for three families in Singapore since 2012.
If convicted, Salim may face the death penalty in Singapore.
