Singapore man spends years caring for his brother — one night, the strain proves fatal

SINGAPORE, June 30 — For years, Abdul Rani Md Ariffin cared for his younger brother through depression, chronic illness and unemployment after their mother’s death.

Today, the 59-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to eight years in prison for killing the very brother he had spent years looking after, in a case that laid bare the devastating toll caregiver stress can take on families.

According to CNA, Abdul Rani pleaded guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder after prosecutors reduced an original murder charge. Psychiatrists found he was suffering from an adjustment disorder at the time of the offence, giving rise to diminished responsibility under Singapore law.

The court heard that Abdul Rani became the family’s primary caregiver after his mother died in 2010, helping care for his younger brother and two older sisters.

His brother, 56-year-old Abdul Rahman Mohamed Ariffin, had lived with depression since 2008 and also suffered from diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease.

In the weeks before the killing, Abdul Rahman obsessively cleaned the family flat without finishing tasks, leaving clutter throughout the home. The behaviour increasingly frustrated Abdul Rani.

In the early hours of March 11, after hearing his brother scold one of their sisters during another argument about the cleaning, Abdul Rani confronted him.

When asked why he would not stop tidying, his brother replied: “I clean as I wish to, lah.”

Prosecutors said Abdul Rani snapped. Feeling both anger and pity for his brother’s declining health, he believed death would free him from his suffering.

He strangled his brother and later pressed a cushion over his face before confessing to his sister the next morning and calling the police himself.

A forensic psychiatrist concluded that Abdul Rani’s adjustment disorder, compounded by prolonged caregiver stress, impaired his ability to appreciate the moral wrongfulness of his actions and control his behaviour, although he was not of unsound mind.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Joel Fun argued that the victim was a defenceless family member whose killing remained a grave offence.

“The accused’s justifications for killing the victim should not diminish the gravity of these acts of violence against a defenceless family member who posed no threat nor resistance and was simply going about his daily activities in what should have been the safety of his own home,” he said, according to CNA.

Defence lawyer Amarick Gill described his client as a devoted caregiver overwhelmed by years of responsibility. In mitigation, Abdul Rani said: “I do not know why I wanted to kill him, I only pity him.”

Calling the case “sad and tragic”, Justice Dedar Singh Gill said it nonetheless involved the killing of a defenceless family member and sentenced Abdul Rani to eight years’ jail, backdated to his arrest in March 2025.