Maid screams for car to stop but it hits girl, 4: Woman arrested for careless driving causing death
Vihanya Rakshika
The Straits Times
Jan 27, 2024
Editor's note: Details identifying the victim and her family members in this story have been removed due to a gag order imposed by the court on Oct 15, 2025.
The four-year-old girl celebrated her birthday in January and went on her first skiing trip in December, but on Jan 23 her life was cut short in a fatal accident near her home.
The girl was walking to her River Valley home after pre-school with her two-year-old sister and their maid Lily when a car came from around the street corner and knocked her down.
Speaking to The Straits Times on Jan 27, the girl's father said the maid was holding the younger girl's hand and carrying their school bags, and had given the girl the green light to cross the road after checking that it was safe.
The child's six-year-old sister was not with them at the time.
Her father said: "She was a careful girl. She was taught to check the roads before crossing."
The street was usually not busy with traffic either, he added, although illegal parking and speeding cars were a problem.
The maid, an Indonesian in her 30s, said she could not reach the girl in time to prevent her from being hit by the car. All she could do was scream for the driver to stop, but the car stopped only after some time.
The father said he was at home, just minutes away from the accident spot, when he got a phone call from the maid, and he raced down to where the child was.
Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedics arrived soon after and found that she had a faint pulse, he added.
The child was rushed to hospital, where a surgeon told her father that his daughter's chances of survival were not good. However, the doctors continued to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her for about half an hour.
"I asked them to continue keeping her alive till my wife arrived because I wanted us to make a decision together."
His wife reached the hospital as soon as she could after speaking to the police at the accident location.
Seeing her daughter for the first time after the accident, she broke down in tears, he said. "She did not realise how bad the injuries were. But she was very brave. Together, we told the surgeon to stop the CPR and said: 'You can let her go now.'"
In response to queries, the police said there was an accident involving a car and a pedestrian in Institution Hill towards River Valley Road on Jan 23 at about 4.55pm.
They said a four-year-old girl was taken unconscious to hospital, where she later died of her injuries.
The police added that a 40-year-old woman was arrested under suspicion of careless driving causing death.
The girl's father said his daughter was a joyful child who loved dancing. She also adored her sisters.
He added that she loved her first skiing trip in 2023 and spent a memorable Christmas in Croatia.
She was too young to ski but wanted her father to be with her the whole time. So, he took her for three hours of skiing lessons and stayed by her side for all the skiing activities.
He is happy that he was able to have that time with her, he said.
He added: "Lily noticed that she was singing to herself cheerfully just moments before the accident. It gives us some comfort to know that she was happy when she died."
Lily will be getting professional psychological help to cope with the trauma of witnessing the accident, he said.
The family will hold a private funeral for the child on Jan 28 and 29.
