Man charged with attempting to murder his 77-year-old mother with pillow as she slept
Yong Chun Hong said he did not do it and asked to see his mother.
Yong Chun Hong is accused of attempting to murder the 77-year-old woman with a pillow as she was sleeping. (File photo: iStock)
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SINGAPORE: A man was charged on Wednesday (Jan 24) with attempting to murder his 77-year-old mother.
Yong Chun Hong, a 34-year-old Singaporean, was accused of trying to kill the elderly woman while she was sleeping.
He allegedly covered the face of Madam Wee Soon Wah with a pillow between 10pm and 11pm on Jan 16 at a flat in Block 412, Serangoon Central, with the intention of causing death.
Yong, who appeared in court from his place of remand in cuffs, told the court that he "did not do it" and wanted to see his mother.
The prosecutor said the response to this was "obviously no, since the mother is the victim (in) this case".
The prosecutor asked for Yong to be remanded for psychiatric assessment in order to determine whether he was suffering from any abnormality of mind which impaired his mental responsibility for the alleged act.
Responding to the judge's probing on what the status of Yong's mother was, the prosecutor said: "At the moment, I believe it's not life-threatening."
The police said in an earlier statement that they were alerted to an assault case at a residential unit along Serangoon Central on the late afternoon of Jan 18.
Preliminary investigations showed that the suspect had allegedly pressed a pillow over the sleeping woman's face on Jan 16, intending to kill her.
He was ordered to be remanded at Changi Prison's Complex Medical Centre (CMC) for three weeks for psychiatric assessment and will return to court on Feb 14.
If convicted of attempted murder, where hurt is caused, Yong faces two possible sets of penalties.
He could either be jailed for life and caned, or jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
