Lilyana Eva, the 32-year-old Indonesian maid, was present in court on Wednesday (Nov 6) to respond to charges from the incident that occurred just before 5 pm on Jan 23, 2024. Lilyana was accused of an accident that caused the tragic death of a 4-year-old girl at River Valley with a car.
According to the document in court, it indicates that she failed to take all necessary precautions for the safety of Zara Mei Orlic, by allowing her to cross the street at an intersection without signals on Institution Hill.
This caused the child to dash across the street and get hit by a vehicle, leading to her serious injuries. Zara was taken urgently to Singapore General Hospital but sadly passed away from her injuries later that night.
With proper evidence, it was revealed that a 40-year-old Australian woman was driving the car, and the collision happened in the second lane, hitting Zara’s leg and head. A coroner’s inquest in July determined that Zara had died from head injuries incurred during the crash.
During the traffic police investigation, it was discovered that the car was not speeding, and Zara appeared in the in-car camera footage just about a second before the collision. It is very hard for the driver to see her as Zara is just 100 cm tall.
Coroner Eddy Tham summarized the event as a road traffic accident from last July and said that caregivers or maids must always supervise young children when they are crossing the road. He noted that young kids often do not recognize threats on the road and that they tend to move suddenly without notice.
The defendant Lilyana began her employment with the Orlics in October 2023. At her court appearance, she conveyed her plan to secure legal representation and was prompted by the court to think about applying for the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.
The case has been postponed to November 13. If convicted of inflicting serious injury through a reckless act, Lilyana could receive a prison sentence of about four years, a fine reaching S$10,000, or both penalties.
