1997 Kallang landlady murder
On 13 March 1997, 53-year-old Sivapackiam Veerappan Rengasamy, a landlady living with her son at a flat on King George’s Avenue in Kallang, Singapore, was found dead in her bedroom from stab wounds to the neck.
The day’s events began when Sivapackiam’s tenant, 36-year-old Gerardine Andrew, a prostitute, told police that she had returned to the flat and seen three people attack her landlady and threaten her to leave. She said the attackers robbed Sivapackiam and held her hostage briefly. Three suspects were arrested: Kamala Rani Balakrishnan, Mansoor Abdullah, and Nazar Mohamed Kassim.
From the suspects’ confessions, police learned that Gerardine was the mastermind behind the robbery plan. She claimed she never meant to kill Sivapackiam, but she orchestrated the assault and theft. The four suspects later gave competing accounts of what happened, and witnesses saw them fleeing the scene.
In court, the outcomes were:
- Kamala Rani Balakrishnan: convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and conspiracy to rob; received seven years in prison.
- Mansoor Abdullah and Nazar Mohamed Kassim: found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
- Gerardine Andrew: initially convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced to eight years, but the prosecution appealed. In September 1998, the Court of Appeal overturned her conviction, ruling she was responsible for murder due to her role as mastermind, and she was sentenced to death.
On 26 February 1999, Gerardine Andrew, Mansoor Abdullah, and Nazar Mohamed Kassim were all hanged at Changi Prison. Kamala Balakrishnan had already served her seven-year term and was not executed.
The case is noted for its application of the common intention principle in Singapore law and has been featured in crime shows such as Crimewatch and True Files.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:50 (CET).