A 24-year-old Indonesian maid, set to hang in Singapore...

A 24-year-old Indonesian maid, set to hang in Singapore on charges of stabbing dead her employer, won a reprieve when a court reduced her sentence to life in prison because she had been abused. Sundarti Suprianto had been charged with stabbing and burning Angie Ng, 33, and her 3-year-old daughter Crystal Poh, in May 2002, and then covering up the murders by setting fire to the crime scene - her employer's office.
The Singapore High Court found Sundarti guilty on the lesser charge of culpable homicide instead of an original charge of murder, which carried a mandatory death sentence by hanging under Singapore's tough laws. Suprianto's lawyers said she was provoked after suffering abuse and deserved compassion because she saved Ng's 2-year-old son, Leon Poh, from the fire.
"The defence of grave and sudden provocation succeeded," said Johan Ismail, who represented Sundarti. "She saved the young child, so the feeling was she was not a cold-blooded murderer." Suprianto had been employed for only about two weeks.