SINGAPORE – While he was alone at home with his wife, an 88-year-old man with dementia fatally attacked the 74-year-old woman in their Bukit Panjang flat in 2024.
The ferocity of the assault left a gaping wound that exposed her fractured jaw, collarbone, ribs, and lungs, prosecutors told the High Court on Aug 3.
Ridawi Morsudin was incoherent when police officers arrived at the flat in Petir Road. Seen by a doctor that day, he was disoriented and unable to relate what happened.
On Aug 3, Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Yong Ngee told the court that Ridawi, who is now 90, has been found unfit to plead, which means he lacks the mental competency to stand trial.
This is the first case to come before the High Court under a legal procedure for such individuals.
Under this regime, the judge must determine if the accused is indeed incapable of making his defence.
If so, the judge must report the case to the Law Minister and specify the notional imprisonment period that the individual would have had to undergo if he was convicted of the offence.
The minister will then order the person’s confinement.
A notional imprisonment period functions as the upper limit of how long such an individual can be confined under orders from the minister.
Ridawi faces a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for causing the death of his wife, Aminah Abdul, between 7pm on June 4, 2024, and about 1am on June 5, 2024.
On Aug 3, he attended the hearing via video link from Changi Prison Complex Medical Centre and had the proceedings explained to him by a Malay interpreter.
DPP Goh said Ridawi was the only person who could have inflicted the fatal injuries.
During the six-hour window between the time the victim was last seen alive and the time she was found dead, Ridawi was the only person in the flat with her.
The prosecutor sought a notional imprisonment period of five years.
Public Defender Taufiq Suraidi, who is acting for Ridawi, sought a period of two to three years, given his client’s physical frailty and age.
Justice Hoo Sheau Peng will give her decision on Aug 13. She said she wanted to think about the matter and get the procedure correct, especially given this was the first case.
Mental health deteriorated
According to court documents, Ridawi’s mental faculties noticeably deteriorated in 2022.
He could not recognise his family members, became more hot-tempered and aggressive, and would wander around and lose his way.
Between 2023 and 2024, the police attended to him on 10 occasions as he was lost and disoriented.
He was admitted to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital between Jan 22 and Feb 5, 2024, as he was found at a void deck appearing confused.
He was in delirium and was diagnosed with mixed dementia. The hospital then applied for him to be enrolled at a day-care centre for senior citizens with dementia.
While waiting for his enrolment, a healthcare assistant was assigned to care for him at his flat from 8am to 8pm from Mondays to Saturdays.
To prevent him from leaving the flat, his family members locked the gate with a bicycle chain and a combination padlock.
He was enrolled into a day-care centre from March 19 to April 17, 2024. He was discharged on April 30, 2024, as he was increasingly uncooperative with the staff.
His children then took turns to deliver meals to the flat. A CCTV camera was installed to provide a live feed of the living room, but it did not store any footage.
On June 4, 2024, a family member delivered food to the flat and left at about 7pm.
Past midnight on June 5, 2024, Ridawi’s grandson saw through the feed that his grandmother was on the floor in a pool of blood while his grandfather was standing behind his recliner chair looking at her.
The grandson, who lived with the couple, rushed home and called for an ambulance.
When asked what had happened, Ridawi said in Malay the person was no longer alive, and it was too late.
The victim died from sharp force injuries to the head, neck and chest.
An autopsy noted at least 34 distinct slash and stab wounds on her body. Her skull, neck and spine, and ribs were also fractured.
In June 2024, a psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health stated that Ridawi was possibly delirious at the time of the offence.
She certified he was unfit to plead, was of unsound mind and incapable of making his defence because he had major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease and vascular disease with behavioural disturbance.
A follow-up evaluation in August 2025 found that Ridawai remained unable to plead due to his severe cognitive impairment and is highly unlikely to ever regain fitness to stand trial.
The report also stated that Ridawi’s overall risk of violent reoffending is low.
