SINGAPORE: BANGLADESHI WORKER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING INDONESIAN MAID GIRLFRIEND IN GEYLANG HOTEL

December 16, 2020:

A Bangladeshi worker was sentenced to death on 14 December 2020 in Singapore for murdering his domestic helper girlfriend in a Geylang hotel two years ago.
Ahmed Salim, 31, was convicted of killing his girlfriend of six years after a tryst in the Golden Dragon Hotel on 30 December 2018, when she refused to leave another man for him. 
Ahmed, who was betrothed to another woman at the time, first strangled 34-year-old Indonesian national Nurhidayati Wartono Surata with a towel. He then tied a rope around her neck in several knots and twisted her head forcefully.
He stole her valuables and left her body to be found by a receptionist later that night. An autopsy found the cause of death to be strangulation and a cervical spine injury.
Judicial Commissioner Mavis Chionh found that his actions before, during and after the killing "demonstrated premeditation, cogent planning and methodical execution".
In his testimony at trial, led by defence lawyers Eugene Thuraisingam, Chooi Jing Yen and Hamzah Malik, Ahmed said he considered the victim to be his wife, even though they were not married. 
He was diagnosed with adjustment disorder at the time of the offence, but no contributory link was found between this disorder and the crime.