Nguyen Ngoc Giau, a 43-year-old single mother from Vietnam, has been a permanent resident of Singapore for over a decade. She is now on trial for the alleged murder of her boyfriend, Cho. The incident took place during the early hours of 15 July 2021, at a HDB block in Ang Mo Kio. Giau had moved here to open a hair salon, but endured horrific abuse at the hands of her husband, Cho. They fought almost daily, and liquor usually escalated the situation.
Giau’s relationship with Cho started back in 2020, after a mutual friend introduced the pair. In the beginning, she only planned to rent a room in Cho’s three-room apartment for a few months, coming to stay at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Giau relocated to Singapore in 2010. After a short two-month period working in a KTV club, she opened her own hair salon.
Giau married a Singaporean man in 2020. While they have two children together, their relationship has soured, and they began to completely cut off communication with one another. The emotional toll of Giau’s acrimonious marriage was great. Concerned by the enormity of her burden, she eventually turned to the Institute of Mental Health after a suicide attempt.
At times, their relationship resembled an abusive romance. As stated in Giau’s testimony, the couple would get into loud verbal fights around five times a week, usually when intoxicated. Witnesses have stated their encounters with the officers as stormy, with liquor often an incendiary for violence.
On July 15, 2021, Giau and Cho had a subsequent altercation. This time, it occurred in the fifth-floor communal walkway of Block 562 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. During this fight, Giau allegedly stabbed Cho, causing fatal injuries. Emergency services transported Cho to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 7:15 AM that same day.
In trial testimony, Giau shared what led up to that horrible moment. She was well-acquainted with knife wounds having suffered them herself in the fight with Cho. Much about what led to the stabbing is still in debate as both the defense and prosecution argue their sides.
As if her circumstances weren’t complicated enough, Giau’s children were not able to see their mother since 2019 due to the unpredictable nature of detention. The court will take a hard look at her mental health history. Yet they will inevitably need to consider the evolving nature of her relationships with Cho and her husband as they discuss the facts of this case.
As a jury is selected for this trial, Giau’s testimony will be vital in deciding her fate. On the ground, the personal tragedies these legal proceedings mask become clear. They raise troubling questions about the state of domestic relations, untreated mental health issues, and how substance abuse makes it harder to resolve disputes peacefully.
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