Death of Annie Ee

Annie Ee Yu Lian (余玉莲 Yú Yùlián; – 13 April 2015) was a Singaporean waitress who was abused for eight months before she died on 13 April 2015 at the age of 26. Ee's abusers were her 31-year-old childhood friend, Tan Hui Zhen (陈惠珍 Chén Huìzhēn), and Tan's 38-year-old husband, Pua Hak Chuan (潘学泉 Pān Xuéquán), who were both her flatmates in the couple's four-room Woodlands flat. The cause of death was certified to be acute fat embolism as a result of the beatings Ee received from Tan and Pua. It was also revealed that Annie Ee had an intellectual disability, which was one of the factors (besides the cruelty and extent of injuries) behind the public outcry against the couple.

Both Tan and Pua were initially charged with murder, which carries either life imprisonment or the death penalty in Singapore. However, after the investigations revealed that the couple had no motive or intention to cause Ee's death, the prosecution reduced the murder charges to those of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon. After receiving the couple's guilty plea, the High Court sentenced Tan to 16 years and six months' imprisonment, and Pua to 14 years' imprisonment with 14 strokes of the cane.

After sentencing, the public felt that the sentences were too light due to the highly aggravated nature of the case, and the government of Singapore eventually made amendments to the existing laws to ensure harsher punishments for offenders who commit crimes against disabled people, to prevent similar cases in the future. Provided by Wikipedia