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SINGAPORE : Amutha Valli Krishnan, who is suing Novena Church for allegedly forcing an exorcism on her, can decide when she wants to go into a trance, says her former psychiatrist Dr Ong Thiew Chai.
He also agreed with defence lawyers that she could even decide how long she wants to stay in a trance.
Defence lawyers were questioning Dr Ong, a senior consultant at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, on the witness stand on Thursday.
Amutha, a former part-time tutor, is suing the church, two priests and six church-goers for allegedly performing the exorcism on her on 10 August 2004.
She claimed she fainted in church while praying and was led to a room where she was restrained and assaulted. However, the defence said her family members asked the church priests to pray over her because she was possessed and suicidal. She claimed the incident had traumatised her and she is now unable to live normally.
Previous records have shown that 51-year-old Amutha could go into self-initiated trances, which is the defence team's position that she is faking her psychiatric symptoms for financial gains.
Since hearing resumed on June 23, Amutha's sworn brother Resham Singh has been attending all court sessions. He was so involved with Amutha that Dr Ong said he communicated with Resham Singh at medical consultations more than Amutha's husband and children.
Defence lawyers even confirmed with Dr Ong that Resham Singh controlled Amutha's medicine consumption. Defence lawyer Tito Isaac suggested Resham Singh also did not inform Dr Ong of pertinent information such as Amutha's past psychiatric history, and visits to general practitioners to obtain more drugs.
Dr Ong confirmed such information would have been valuable in his diagnosis of any illness.
Defence wanted to show how Resham Singh had a huge hand in many of Amutha's activities and in influencing her behaviour.
When asked if that was unusual, Dr Ong said the matter crossed his mind many times. But Dr Ong simply thought Amutha's husband was too busy and that her sworn brother was more knowledgeable. So that's why the husband must have left Resham Singh to attend to Amutha.
Defence lawyers also highlighted how Amutha was abusing alcohol while on psychiatric medication. The defence wanted to show that in her dissociative state, the combination of drugs and alcohol could have aggravated that condition.
They also established that in her dissociative state, Amutha could have no memory or distorted memory of the church incident. Amutha could also have made up false memories of it.
Amutha and her family members might have painted a good and loving picture of their household, but the defence wanted to show this was far from the truth. In fact, they highlighted previous medical notes stating how her husband and children had physically and verbally abused her. - CNA /ls
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