PUTRAJAYA: A couple who are on death row for starving their maid to death, escaped with a 10-year jail term each when the Federal Court convicted them for a lesser offence.

Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif ordered store owner Soh Chew Tong and his wife Chin Chui Ling to be jailed for committing culpable homicide instead of murder.

Soh and Chin were initially convicted for the murder of their Cambodian maid, Mey Sichan (pic), 24, at their home in Taman Asas Murni, Jalan Bukit Minyak in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, between Jan 1 and April 1, 2012.

The maid, who started working with the couple in July 2011, was found dead at the couple’s shophouse with fresh injuries on her body and was severely dehydrated.

She had sunken cheeks and eye-sockets. The maid was only 26.1kg at the time of her death.

Yesterday, clad in white and red prison clothes, Soh, 48, and Chin, 45, looked stunned upon hearing the verdict delivered by the panel of five judges led by Md Raus.

As soon as the panel adjourned the proceedings, Chin burst into tears and immediately hugged her mother and a family member who rushed to the dock to hug her, before both were taken to the court lockup.

On Oct 7, 2015, Soh and Chin were sentenced to death after the Court of Appeal restored their conviction to the original charge for the murder of 24-year-old Mey Sichan.

The couple had initially been sentenced to 24 years’ jail each by the Sessions Court in Penang on May 16, 2013 on a reduced charge of committing culpable homicide.

Counsel Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram who appeared for the couple urged the court to impose a lesser sentence as they had shown remorse.

Meanwhile, Deputy Public Prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud said the incident occurred over a period of time and a message should be sent to the public as it involved cruelty to a maid.

Met outside the courtroom, the couple’s other lawyer Datuk K. Kumaraendran said that his clients were in custody for almost three years and with a one third remission for good behaviour, the couple would only serve four-and-a-half years.