This is really shocking and outrageous! A 26-year-old Singaporean woman was cruelly abused by a couple whom she thought of as friends but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. As a result, the poor girl has died from their systematic abuse.
Source: MMO
According to Channel News Asia, Annie Ee Yu Lian, a waitress and longtime friend of 33-year-old Tan Hui Zhen had come to live with her and her 38-year-old husband Pua Hak Chuan in August 2014. Unfortunately, Ee had moved into a living hell as she was abused for eight months, which finally ended with her death on April 12, 2015.
Here’s what we know about what the monster couple did to the poor abused victim, who is said to be intellectually disabled. We know it’s a little long but bear with us!
1. Annie Ee was abused almost every day by the couple with their bare hands and various weapons
Source: The Star
They slapped and punched Ee with their bare hands and other “weapons” in their arsenal, including a pair of bedroom slippers, a bright red plastic belt, a bamboo stick, a plastic dustbin and a large, heavy roll of shrink wrap. They reportedly loved using the roll of shrink wrap to hit Ee as she was most afraid of it.
2. Annie Ee was forced to give her entire paycheque to the couple
Source: Huffington Post
Ee first moved in to the couple’s Woodlands four-room flat in late 2013 and initially, they did not collect any rent from her. She was tasked with cooking and cleaning to repay their hospitality. However, Tan and Pua decided to start charging her rent at S$150 (RM458) a month, increasing this gradually to S$550 (RM1,680).
Then, they started assaulting Ee in August 2014 when they accused her of bringing in a bedbug infestation and the couple demanded S$2,000 (RM6,115) as compensation. Tan started the abuse by slapping and whipping her, trying to strangle her, banging her head against a wall, and even kicking and stepping on her. OMG, that’s so cruel!
They started to keep track of alleged debts that Ee would incur and soon, they forced Ee to hand over her entire paycheque of S$1,200 (RM3,665) to Tan, who gave her a weekly allowance of S$50 (RM152), which she later reduced to S$30 (RM91).
3. The abuse was meant to “punish” Annie Ee for her “misdeeds” and get her to change
Source: Semana
According to The Star, Tan would frequently punish Ee for “bad behaviour” such as lying, taking too long in the shower or refusing to eat. Their appalling abuse and cruelty made Ee sustain serious injuries, which led to an excruciating death for her. She was forced to verbalise her “mistakes” and promised that she would change.
Often, the beating sessions would last for about two hours with Tan doing most of the beating while Pua would be the “standby slapper” and only take over when Tan was tired. An autopsy done after her death showed that Ee had 12 fractured ribs, seven fractured vertebrae, a ruptured stomach and a body crowded with blisters and bruises. Just imagine the pain she had to endure!
4. Yet, Ee treated Tan and Pua as family, even calling them “jie jie” (older sister) and “jie fu” (brother-in-law)
Source: Catalina Islander
Ee and Tan had met each other in 2001, when they were 13 and 17 respectively. They lost touch but rekindled their friendship in 2013 when Ee became estranged from her family. During her days off, Ee would sometimes stay over with the couple and finally, she requested to move in with them.
Throughout her beatings, Ee never fought back or screamed, but accepted her abuse silently. “All Annie wanted from Tan and Pua was acceptance and affection,” Deputy Public Prosecutors April Phang and Claire Poh said. “Yet she died alone and in excruciating pain.”
5. Tan and Pua tried to keep her injuries discreet and forced her to change her job when her colleagues started getting suspicious
Source: AsiaOne
It isn’t possible to hit someone so much and not leave marks, so Tan and Pua would aim for Ee’s buttocks as it would be less conspicuous. However, this caused Ee’s buttocks to sustain multiple blisters with the largest one measuring about 7.5cm in diameter.
Tan decided to remedy her wounds by pricking the blister with a needle but had to use sanitary pads to soak up the fluid and blood, which came gushing out. They instructed her to lie about her injuries and say that she had fallen down instead.
Ee changed jobs as a waitress from Hot Tomato to Ichiban Boshi in late February 2015 when her colleagues began asking about her injuries. She did not say anything and only replied once saying, “My family loh.”
6. Annie tried to commit suicide one day before her death
Source: SBS
Ee died on April 13, 2015 but the night before, she had tried to slit her wrists with a pair of scissors as she said that she was “useless” because she couldn’t follow jie jie’s instructions. Pua found her before she caused serious damage to herself.
The events leading to her death began at 9pm on April 12, 2015 when a weak and panting Ee collapsed on the floor in her urine twice as she was getting incontinent. The couple accused her of purposely urinating to get attention and summoned her to the living room to teach her a lesson.
Tan and Pua hit her mercilessly several times with the shrink wrap until she fell on the floor. The delirious Ee crawled back to her bedroom but Pua got angry and started abusing her with the shrink wrap by thrusting it towards her abdomen, slamming it against her buttocks and finally he picked up a plastic dustbin to hit her until it cracked.
The next morning, Ee was lifeless, lying on her mattress. MMO reported that she had died because of acute fat embolism. She had been beaten so badly that her skin and fat dissociated from the muscle layer and the fatty tissue below the skin broke down and went into her blood stream and lungs, which led to cardiac and respiratory failure, presented as panting. :'(
7. Tan and Pua have been arrested and they pleaded guilty in court. They will be sentenced on December 1st
Source: The New Paper
The couple was arrested and charged with murder but changed their plea to guilty for reduced charges. Tan pleaded guilty to two counts each of causing grievous hurt and causing grievous hurt with a weapon, while Pua pleaded guilty to one count of causing hurt and two counts of causing grievous hurt with a weapon.
The prosecutors are seeking 15 years’ jail for Tan and 14 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane for Pua. An Institute of Mental Health report said that Tan was suffering from moderate to severe depression and borderline personality disorder, but was not of unsound mind during the offences.
Apparently, she had also gone through three miscarriages while Pua’s lawyer said that he did not dare to stand up to his wife.
That’s such a terrible thing to do to another human being. Hopefully Annie will get the justice she deserves. RIP, Annie.
Also read: Young Malaysian Student Abused by School’s Staff Member, Passes Away from Injuries
