2011 Afro Asia Building fire: Man heard wife screaming in burning office
Mr Rengarajoo Rengasamy Balasamy at the Supreme Court on Oct 23, 2015. Photo: Ooi Boon Keong
SINGAPORE — The office was pitch-black, hot and filled with choking smoke. When he called out for his wife who was in the burning unit, the response Mr Rengarajoo Rengasamy Balasamy got was a very loud scream.
The lawyer’s account of the harrowing scenes on the morning of Aug 10, 2011 at Afro Asia Building, where his wife Low Foong Meng was killed, emerged today (Oct 23) when he testified in court against a former client accused of the murder.
“I shouted to my wife: ‘Foong Meng, come out’. I shouted twice very loudly. I then heard my wife scream once and it was very loud,” said Mr Rengarajoo, in a witness statement produced in court. Her charred body was later found by firefighters.
Govindasamy Nallaiah, 70, is accused of murdering Low, 56, over a financial dispute. He owed her husband, who defended him in a 2002 corruption trial, more than S$38,000 in legal fees.
The day of the alleged murder was Govindasamy’s deadline to pay up, or Mr Rengarajoo would enforce a court order to seize and sell his son’s house.
The court heard that Mr Rengarajoo had dropped Low off at their office that day before going to park his car at a nearby building. That was the last time he saw her alive.
By the time he reached the Afro Asia Building, the fire alarm was blaring as security guards scrambled around, said Mr Rengarajoo, who choked up while he was on the stand today.
The prosecution’s case is that Govindasamy had tried to negotiate the settlement of his debt with Low that morning, after which he took out a bicycle chain and padlock from his black haversack, and knocked her out.
Before fleeing the scene, he allegedly set fire to documents on a nearby table, starting the blaze that killed Low.
Today, the court heard that Mr Rengarajoo had known Govindasamy for five decades.
In 2002, Mr Rengarajoo agreed to defend Govindasamy in a graft case for S$25,000, but the bill remained unpaid for years — the amount grew to S$38,000 because of the costs of legal proceedings to seek payment. In July 2011, the lawyer got a court’s permission to seize the house of Govindasamy’s son, who acted as guarantor.
On Aug 1, Govindasamy turned up at the law firm, pleading for more time to pay. When Low gave him a day’s grace, Govindasamy turned and screamed at her: “One day?”.
On his last visit to the law firm to negotiate payment on Aug 8, Govindasamy appeared contemplative and hesitant to leave, said Mr Rengarajoo.
The trial continues next Tuesday.
