KUALA LUMPUR: A senior lawyer was so galled with a prosecutor’s line of questioning over a burn injury on Indonesian maid Nirmala Bonat’s right thigh that he suddenly splashed water on his co-counsel in the maid abuse trial.
Lead counsel Jagjit Singh snatched up a bottle of mineral water and tipped the water over a surprised Akbardin Abd Kadir.
“What is the purpose of the prosecution’s question?” he said.
Jagjit Singh said the prosecution’s contention was that Nirmala’s right thigh was scalded when her former employer allegedly splashed hot water on her while she was standing.
But the defence contended that the maid had poured hot water on herself while she was seated.
“Their case is splashed, our case is poured,” Jagjit Singh said, adding that the case could not end if the prosecutor continued to question forensics expert Dr John Andrew Munro Gall – a defence witness – over the burn injury.
To this, DPP Raja Rozela Raja Toran asked Jagjit Singh if he did not want her to continue questioning his expert because “money was the matter”.
Yesterday was the fifth day Dr Gall testified in the trial. Dr Gall was brought in from Australia to give his opinion on the cause of injuries sustained by Nirmala.
Housewife Yim Pek Ha, 40, is facing four counts of causing grievous hurt to her former maid Nirmala at Villa Putera condominium in Jalan Tun Ismail here between January and May 2004.
As Jagjit Singh passed napkins to Akbardin to mop up the water on his coat and notes, judge Akhtar Tahir told DPP Raja Rozela that Nirmala had testified she was standing during the incident and there was no need to ask if it was possible that Nirmala was standing with bent knee.
He ruled that Rozela should only confront the expert with facts established in court and not query him on possibilities.
Akhtar ticked off Jagjit Singh. “It was wrong of you to throw water on your colleague. It is uncalled for. You are in court,” he said.
Jagjit Singh apologised and the court adjourned briefly.
Later, Dr Gall, 53, from Melbourne, testified that photographs of Nirmala mostly showed that she had first and second degree burn injuries on her thigh.
The hearing continues today.
