Fatal River Valley crash: Girl charged with rash act after death of 4-year-old girl

SINGAPORE – An Indonesian girl was charged on Nov 6 with causing grievous hurt by a rash act an accident in River Valley that left a four-year-old girl dead.

Lilyana Eva, 32, is accused of committing the offense shortly before 5pm on January 23.

According to court documents, she allegedly failed to ensure Zara Mei Orlic’s safety that day by allowing her to cross a road at an unsignaled intersection without holding the child.

As a result, the girl crossed the road and suffered serious injuries after a car hit her. She died later that day.

On July 12, in the coroner Eddy Tham findings on Zara’s deathhe said the Australian girl was on her way home from kindergarten with Lilyana.

Zara had walked a little ahead of the maid, who was carrying school bags and holding the hand of Zara’s two-year-old sister.

Zara ran along Institution Hill in River Valley and didn’t notice an oncoming car from her left.

Coroner Tham said the girl, who was only 1 meter tall, was completely obscured by a stationary vehicle nearby.

He added: “The maid saw oncoming traffic in the second lane but it was too late. By then the car had crashed into Zara and tragically run over her body.”

He also found that the car driver, a 40-year-old Australian woman, who was arrested after the incident, had failed to detect Zara’s presence as she crossed the road.

The woman was driving home after picking up her two children from school. She suddenly felt that her car had hit something and run over it.

When she looked in her rearview mirror, she realized the vehicle had hit a child.

Lilyana and the driver ran to Zara, who was bleeding from her nose and mouth.

The maid called the girl’s father, who quickly arrived on the scene. A receptionist from a nearby school called an ambulance.

After Zara was taken to Singapore General Hospital, doctors told her parents that she was unlikely to survive.

Zara was declared dead at 6.45pm that day. The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was head injury.

Lilyana started working for the Orlic family in October 2023.

Through an Indonesian interpreter, Lilyana told the court on November 6 that she plans to hire a lawyer.

Her case has been postponed until November 13.

Offenders convicted of causing serious harm to another person while performing a rash act can face a prison sentence of up to four years and a fine of up to $10,000.

Seventy-three people died in the first half of 2024 road accidents – two more than the 71 deaths in the same period last year.