Toa Payoh carpark murder: Man who killed waitress during mobile phone dispute gets life sentence
SINGAPORE — A 28-year-old man who murdered a 23-year-old waitress over a dispute involving handphone repair costs was on Thursday (4 July) sentenced to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane.
After pushing her off a flight of stairs during an argument, Syed Maffi Hasan threw a semi-conscious Atika Dolkifli over the railing of a parapet at a multi-storey carpark in Toa Payoh in August 2015. She died from the fall and her body was found only three days later by a passer-by.
Syed Maffi was convicted of her murder in May following a trial.
Met over Facebook
Syed Maffi first met Atika in 2013 over Facebook but lost contact shortly after when he was admitted to a Drug Rehabilitation Centre. The pair resumed contact after he was released in April 2015.
According to her parents, Atika had been found to have a below average intelligence when she was 12 years old.
As Syed Maffi did not have a mobile phone, Atika lent him a spare green iPhone 5C. When it became faulty, he sent it for repairs twice, with the bill coming up to about $125.
However, Syed Maffi lied to Atika that the repairs had cost $300 as he was in need of money. He also went to her work place multiple times to look for her.
On 20 August 2015, he went to her home but met her father instead. Syed Maffi told Atika’s father that she owed him $300 for phone repairs, but the latter told Syed Maffi to settle the matter with Atika.
Later that day, Atika’s older brother told Syed Maffi to keep the phone and not to contact Atika again. Syed Maffi agreed.
Threw victim over parapet railing
On 31 August 2015, Syed Maffi went back on his word. He arranged to meet Atika after her shift at Pizza Hut ended.
At about 9.45pm, the pair went to the multi-storey carpark at Blk 146A Toa Payoh Lorong 2. At the roof garden on the top deck of the carpark, they quarrelled over the monetary sum that Syed Maffi was demanding from Atika.
He pushed her in the chest and she fell backwards off the edge of a flight of stairs, hitting the back of her head on the steps.
Syed Maffi then dragged Atika by her armpits down the remaining steps to Deck 5A of the carpark. He noticed she was semi-conscious and groaning at the time.
Undaunted by her condition, Syed Maffi lifted Atika and threw her over the railing of the carpark’s parapet. Atika landed head first on the landing at Deck 3A with a loud thud. Syed Maffi observed that she was not moving after the fall.
Concealed victim’s handbag in drain
Syed Maffi then picked up Atika’s belongings and walked back up the stairs to the roof garden. He threw the items such as her keys and right shoe into a drain near the stairs.
He left the carpark at about 10.30pm with her handbag but decided to conceal it in a covered drain near a bus stop. He removed her mobile phone from the handbag before hiding it and heading home.
Atika’s father made a missing person’s report at about 11.30pm the next day. On 2 September 2015, Atika’s brother met Syed Maffi and asked the latter about his sister.
Syed Maffi claimed that she had walked to the carpark by herself after meeting and never returned. He added that he left after waiting for her for a while.
At about 8.10am on 3 September, a passer-by spotted Atika’s body and called the police. A forensic pathologist found her death to have been caused by a head injury.
CCTV recordings from the carpark showed Syed Maffi and Atika entering the carpark together and him leaving alone carrying her handbag. He confessed to his crime in several police statements on 3 and 4 September.
A government psychiatrist found that Syed Maffi did not suffer from any psychiatric disorder or illness and was not of unsound mind at the time of the crime.
For his crime, Syed Maffi could have been sentenced to death.
Related stories:
Man found guilty of murdering waitress over handphone repair dispute
Murder trial begins for man accused of flinging woman over carpark parapet
