father, who worked as a labourer, he stated that he was proud of Usharani, who often aced in her examinations and schoolwork, and was the brightest out of his three daughters. The family were filled with heartbreak about Usharani's unfortunate death, and they later buried her at Choa Chu Kang cemetery after a funeral. Arrest and media effect Two days after Usharani was killed, the police arrested a suspect, whom they revealed was the victim's 23-year-old uncle who was a soldier. The uncle, Lance Corporal Kalidass s/o Sinnathamby Narayanasamy of the Singapore Armed Forces, was charged with murder on 14 November 1977, and it was revealed by the police that he admitted to the molestation and killing of the victim. The case of Kalidass was transferred from the district courts to the High Court in April 1978 for trial hearing on a later date. The case of Usharani's sexual assault and murder made headlines in Singapore newspapers and just less than a month after her death was reported, another schoolgirl Cheng Geok Ha, who was ten, went missing on 25 November 1977 before she was discovered dead in the following month, with signs of her being sexually assaulted before her death; Cheng's neighbour Quek Kee Siong was later arrested for the murder and sentenced to hang on 6 March 1979. In January 1978, the murder of Usharani was reported as one of the top ten most shocking news ever covered by the media in the year 1977 itself. Murder trial and defence On 18 March 1980, Kalidass Sinnathamby Narayanasamy stood trial for the charge of killing his seven-year-old niece Usharani Ganaison, with Christopher Lau representing him in court. The two trial judges Choor Singh and T. S. Sinnathuray presided the trial hearing, and the trial prosecutor was Sowaran Singh. Professor Chao Tzee Cheng, the pathologist who examined the victim's body, testified that the cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation. Professor Chao discovered bite marks and bruises on the body, and he certified that the girl was sexually assaulted due to the cuts and bruises at her hymen and vagina, but he stated that these injuries were not caused by the sexual organ penetrating the vagina, but rather by another object like a human finger. Djeng Shih Kien, a former senior lecturer of dentistry at the National University of Singapore, was also consulted to test the bite marks on Usharani's