Woman who started fire that left ex-boyfriend with permanent scars was a possessive lover

Daljeet Kaur Dharam Chand was convicted on one count of rashly contributing to the risk of causing a fire after a trial in March. PHOTO: ST FILE

Posted on 25 April 2024 | 2,364 views | 6 comments

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
April 24, 2024

After a woman started a fire in her Sembawang rental flat in September 2021, her then boyfriend ended up with burns on 15 per cent of his body.

Mr Premraj Ragoo, then 32, suffered burns including on his back and left buttock. The prosecution said the Malaysian became depressed after the incident and has permanent scarring on his arms.

In March after a trial, District Judge Kow Keng Siong convicted Daljeet Kaur Dharam Chand, 35, on one of count of rashly contributing to the risk of causing a fire.

The Singaporean woman was due to be sentenced on April 24, but she did not turn up in court.

Defence lawyer Asoka Markandu told Judge Kow that his pregnant client had called him to say that she was at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The identity of the baby’s father was not mentioned in court. Kaur will be sentenced at a later date.

The prosecution said that Kaur, who started the fire, was a possessive lover and had sought to win Mr Premraj’s devotion through emotional manipulation.

The pair is believed to have split up.

They had lived together in the rental flat, the court heard.

In his submissions filed in February, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Tan said: “On Sept 6, 2021, the victim resolved to leave the flat and, in all likelihood, his relationship with the accused. She felt consuming anger, frustration and betrayal.

“The accused rashly lit two matchsticks in the flat after pouring thinner on the floor and this caused the fire that resulted in hurt to the victim.”

DPP Tan added: “She offered the victim complete financial provision, an offer that he found too good to refuse. Over time, she normalised unhealthy control and oversight.

“When disputes arose, she threatened to kill herself. The resultant toxic relationship was a ticking time bomb.”

According to court documents, Kaur decided to stage an elaborate stunt by buying thinner and matches when Mr Premraj wanted to leave on Sept 6, 2021.

DPP Tan said that Mr Premraj appeared nonchalant. Enraged, she poured the thinner on the floor.

The DPP also told the court that an intoxicated Mr Premraj had sought to defuse the situation by snatching the thinner from Kaur. But when she resisted, he resorted to “staging his own stunt” by pouring the flammable liquid on himself.

Mr Premraj started losing consciousness due to his intoxicated state and inhaling fumes from the thinner. He then sat down outside a bedroom, said DPP Tan.

“At or around the time he passed out, the accused rashly and inconceivably decided to light two matchsticks while standing in the kitchen area.

“While the matchsticks were still burning, she failed to hold on to them. They dropped (and) caught fire with the thinner. The fire spread towards the victim and engulfed him in flames.”

During the trial, the defence claimed Mr Premraj had started the fire.

Among other things, the defence said Kaur had dropped the matchsticks after the fire started and that Mr Premraj had been holding a lighter.

However, the prosecution said these two points were fabricated afterthoughts, stressing that Kaur had earlier admitted in two of her statements to the authorities to starting the fire. The statements were taken within 48 hours after the incident.

The court heard that Mr Premraj declined surgery as he could not pay for it.

Instead, he returned to Malaysia with his burns bandaged and recovered on his own, incurring expenses of over RM2,000 (S$570).