During their imprisonment, Kathigasu and her husband were interrogated and beaten, and Abdon was given the water treatment three times. Kathigasu was beaten and questioned but prayed her rosary, refusing to give any information to the Kempeitai.
The psychological and physical torture reached its peak when Kempeitai Sgt. Eiko Yoshimura kidnapped the couple’s daughter Dawn, who was 5 years old at the time. The officers tied her to a tree and set it on fire in front of Kathigasu, threatening to cut the ropes holding her above the fire if Kathigasu didn’t talk. Kathigasu was bound and beaten with a stick.
“Be very brave, Mummy,” she recalled her daughter saying in her autobiography. “Do not tell them anything.”
Kathigasu didn’t tell them anything. The officers began to cut the ropes. But they took pity on the young girl and brought her down into safety.
Kathigasu chastised Yoshimura for his actions and he beat her, kicking her face so badly that she would ultimately die from the injury to her jaw.
Kathigasu and Abdon were brought to Batu Gajah prison, a more humane location that served three meals a day. She was tried for her crimes — which Yoshimura had told her would result in death. She was accused of being a spy for the rebels, spreading British propaganda, and of being a medic to the rebels.
Kathigasu lost the use of her legs, experiencing paralysis from a previous beating, but she was sentenced only to life imprisonment rather than death. Her husband and son were given 15 and three years respectively.
They were freed in 1945 after Germany’s surrender, shortly before Japan’s surrender in WWII. The Malayan guerrilla rebels brought the fall of the Japanese occupation in Malaysia.
Kathigasu visited St. Joseph’s Church after the release, praying in thanksgiving though she had to crawl, not walk, down the aisle.
She was quickly flown to London for medical treatment, where she wrote her autobiography, “No Dram of Mercy,” which was published after her death in 1954. The written statements were used in a trial against Yoshimura, who was executed by hanging for his war crimes.
King George VI awarded Kathigasu the George Medal at Buckingham Palace for her bravery.
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On June 12, 1948, at the age of 49, Kathigasu died of sepsis — blood poisoning — in her jaw. She was buried in Scotland but her body was returned to Ipoh a year later, and she was re-buried in St. Michael’s Church. Her husband died 24 years later, in December 1972.
Sybil Kathigasu’s legacy
Kathigasu has been honored in Malaysia and across the world. A road in Ipoh was named for her, and the shophouse clinic remains standing as a memorial to her.
On June 28, 1948, she was honored in Time magazine for her bravery and medical aid. A TV series was produced about her in 2010 and on Sept. 3, 2016, she was the subject of a Google doodle, standing in front of the shophouse, surrounded by the ribbon of the George Medal. Filmmakers are currently researching and casting for a biopic about her, which is set to come out in the coming years.
Kathigasu is also honored by Catholics. Pilgrims visit her graveside at the Church of St. Michael and the shophouse. During the 2019 Year of Mission, she was honored in Malaysia as one of five examples of witnesses to the Church’s mission. A chapter of the Malaysian catechetical series is dedicated to her; a wing in the Church of St. Joseph, Batu Gajah, Perak, is named for her.
In a July 1 announcement, Cardinal Francis lauded Kathigasu for her “life of service in love and compassion for the sick and suffering” and noted that this year marks the 76th year since her passing.
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