KUALA LUMPUR: For 20 years he cared for his father when the rest of the family refused to do so, because of the 82-year-old man's "authoritarian" and "difficult" character.

Even after a failed marriage and losing his job, Eric de Cruz, 52, a top advertising executive, continued to care for J. Ben de Cruz, not realising that he himself was already suffering from a psychiatric condition known as "major depressive disorder".

But the pressure of dealing with his father, who often berated him and called him useless for having lost his job, took a toll on Eric, the youngest of five children.

On May 23 last year, he lost control and strangled his father to death using a belt after a misunderstanding over a cut on his father's finger.

Eric was charged with murder after he surrendered to police last year.
But, yesterday, he was offered a reduced charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder after psychiatric tests confirmed that he was suffering from depression.

Eric pleaded guilty at the High Court here to causing the death of his father between 6.30am and 9.30am on May 23 last year, in his flat at the Trellises Apartment, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad, Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

Judicial Commissioner Zainal Azman Ab Aziz sentenced him to four years' jail, after taking into consideration his mental state, as concluded by Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta.

In his judgment, Zainal said Eric was the only person who could understand his father.

"Unfortunately, despite being a dutiful son, the depression caused him to take the life of his own father.

"This case is special. It stands on its own. I believe this will haunt him forever and this is greater than any sentence the court can give him. In this case, he has taken the life of his own father and that is punishment enough."

Zainal ordered that Eric be given counseling and guidance throughout his time in prison.

The case, was initially supposed to be heard before High Court judge Lim Yee Lan, but was transferred on Friday when she realised that Eric had rented a house from her in 1994.

Eric's counsel Datuk K. Kumaraendran said his client took good care of his father, even paying for his father's bypass surgery, taking him to church on Sundays and celebrating his birthday together.

"At no time did he ever get up one morning and decide to end his father's life. His mother is in a nursing home suffering from senile dementia. None of his four elder sisters were willing to take care of their father as they were unable to get along with him."

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Fuad Othman submitted that it was up to the court to decide on a suitable sentence.