Pro bono lawyer, Sadhana Rai, fights for the voiceless with heart and grit

In the meeting room at Pro Bono SG’s office in the State Courts, where I had arrived to interview her, Sadhana Rai greets me with a warm smile, gracious and remarkably open.

But when the conversation turns to one of her most challenging cases, the death of two-year-old Umaisyah, something shifts. Her tone sharpens and her expression hardens, and the room comes to a still.

The toddler died in March 2014 after repeated abuse by her drug-addict father. Instead of seeking help, her parents concealed her death and misled relatives until the truth surfaced in 2019.

Sadhana entered the case years later as lead defence counsel for Umaisyah’s mother, who was then charged with perverting the course of justice and child abuse. At this point, Umaisyah’s father, who admitted to the fatal assaults, had already been sentenced in 2023 to 21-and-a-half years in jail and 18 strokes of the cane for culpable homicide.

Preparing for trial meant confronting disturbing evidence, including crime scene photographs. “They still flash in my mind when I’m playing with my niece. You wonder, how could anyone do this to a child?” the 38-year-old muses.

Her client was eventually sentenced to 14 years in jail. In mitigation, Sadhana argued that while the woman was complicit in concealing the death, she had not caused it and had acted out of fear, coercion and prolonged abuse by her husband.

It is not a case one easily forgets, and Sadhana doesn’t try to. To her, upholding justice means carrying the full weight of a story, even when the public has turned away in disgust. She doesn’t shy away from representing people whom society has written off, but her goal isn’t to absolve wrongdoing. She believes in understanding how people arrive at such points – the history, trauma and circumstances that may have led to unthinkable choices.

“To be a good defence lawyer, you must feel. You must anticipate what the judge, prosecution and public will feel. Criminal law is deeply human. It involves difficult emotions such as fear, grief and anger. You cannot shut that out completely,” she explains.

Sadhana is aware that not everyone sees it that way.

She is no stranger to being vilified online for defending the seemingly indefensible.

“Still got pro bono lawyer to defend him? This firm should be looked into,” reads one of many comments on social media.

Sadhana assures me that she does not take such remarks personally. “Society must feel strongly; that’s good. But true justice requires both sides to be represented. My job is not to acquit at all costs. It’s to set out the law, to secure a fair outcome. That’s what justice is.”

That conviction – to pursue fairness even in the most difficult cases – has earned her the recognition of Her World’s Young Woman Achiever 2025, an accolade celebrating young women who embody courage, resilience and impact.

A childhood rooted in values

Sadhana’s story didn’t begin with a dramatic epiphany, but with something more ordinary: a child’s growing discomfort with injustice.

“I had experienced bullying as a child, both as the victim and as a bystander,” she recalls. “That triggered quite a fair bit of soul-searching on my part, and was probably the start of my journey.”

That early exposure to unfairness planted a seed that grew louder with time. “We all have that voice in us,” she adds. “Some choose to act on it. For me, it was too loud to ignore.”

That inner drive was matched by an equally strong work ethic, shaped by the example of her family. Her grandfathers embodied the grit of an earlier generation: one a newspaper man in Chin Swee, the other a night-shift jaga (security officer). Her parents carried that spirit forward. Her father drove an SBS bus before starting his own lorry business, while her mother worked long hours on a production line, often bringing Sadhana and her brother along to wait in a small office until her shift ended.

“I’ve seen my mother struggle to bring us up, and equally, my father as well,” she says. “They worked so hard to give us a good upbringing, to make sure education was never something we had to worry about. That shapes who I am today.”

As her childhood friend Parnella Rayappan puts it, the drive to stand her ground has always been there. “She likes being right, and I must say that it is not a character flaw. In fact, I truly believe that this is what makes her so amazing. She does her research, she listens, she’s astute, and she’s sharp. These traits have helped maintain our friendship over the years, and I’m sure they have helped her in her career as well.”

Sadhana grew up in what many would recognise as a classic Singaporean household: working-class parents who laboured long hours to ensure stability, a strong emphasis on education as the family’s social escalator, and a deeply embedded sense of values shaped more by everyday choices than lofty ideals.

That ethos deepened through her school years, which exposed her to different belief systems and value structures. She attended a Catholic childcare centre while being raised Hindu at home, later moving on to Presbyterian High School, Nanyang Junior College, and then the National University of Singapore, where she read law.

Religion, to her family, was less about ritual and more about values. “My parents believed every faith teaches you to be a good person. So I grew up moving between Catholic, Christian, Hindu, even Buddhist environments,” she says.

In the process, she devoured the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, and the Quran alike. “All these texts give people with dubious moral inclinations a chance to redeem themselves. Who are we to deny that?”

When passion takes the stand

Like many ambitious young lawyers, Sadhana started strong – as a commercial litigator in 2011 at Drew & Napier, under the tutelage of Davinder Singh, one of Singapore’s most formidable legal minds. He has represented clients from then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to DBS Bank.

It was in this high-stakes environment where Sadhana first learnt to wield the law.

“It was the dream. Every law student wanted to learn from him,” she admits. And in many ways, she did, be it the rigour of cross-examination, the discipline of legal craft, and the fire of advocacy.

But within three years, the sheen of private practice quickly dulled. “There were days I asked myself, is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? Yes, I felt joy when Mr Singh taught me, but there were fewer and fewer of those moments. The scales tipped.”

Leaving commercial litigation – with its money, prestige and promise of professional accolades – was a radical choice. Instead, she was seeking a deeper sense of purpose. “People asked why I didn’t want the lists, the recognition, the money. But you have to make your peace that pro bono is not about that. It’s about the genuine love of the work.”

She joined Pro Bono SG in 2015 as a junior fellow under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS), which provides legal representation for those facing criminal charges but are unable to afford a lawyer.

Administered by Pro Bono SG, CLAS covers a wide range of non-capital offences, ensuring access to justice for low-income and vulnerable individuals.

At the time, the organisation itself was still taking shape. It grew out of the vision of former lawyer Tanguy Lim, who left private practice in 2007 to close the justice gap. He founded the Law Society’s Pro Bono Services Office, a small unit that later evolved into today’s Pro Bono SG – Singapore’s key legal charity for the underserved.

Today, Pro Bono SG is a legal lifeline for those unable to afford representation. Through schemes such as CLAS, community clinics, and specialist initiatives, it offers free legal advice and defence in civil and criminal cases – from domestic abuse and tenancy disputes to theft, assault, and other non-capital offences – serving the elderly, low-income individuals, migrant workers, and others at risk of falling through the cracks.

By the time Sadhana came on board, the foundation had been built, but the learning curve was still brutal. “In private practice, I had the protective umbrella of my seniors. Here, I was on my own,” she shares.

Her first High Court trial came under the watchful eye of legal veteran Abraham Vergis, founder and managing director of Providence Law Asia. Known for his meticulous courtroom style and exacting standards, Abraham didn’t let up.

“He grilled me mercilessly – ‘Is this really how you want to argue?’” she recalls. “But that trial by fire cracked me and made me a better litigator.”

That experience paved the way for one of their most consequential collaborations: defending Mohd Ariffan Mohd Hassan, accused of raping his lover’s daughter in a case that gripped national headlines. Despite immense stakes, the defence exposed gaps in the prosecution’s case and inconsistencies in testimony.

In 2019, the Court of Appeal upheld Ariffan’s acquittal – a rare and sobering outcome for such a charge.

Far from narrowing her scope, pro bono work widened her horizons. Senior practitioners and judges across the Bar became mentors because they believed in the mission.

“If I said, ‘My client is poor, I need to make this application, can you help?’ They were always willing. That’s something private practice rarely offered,” she says.

Serving the vulnerable and the voiceless

If criminal defence is her day-to-day fire, then the Migrant Workers’ Law Centre (MWLC) is her heart project.

Launched in April 2025 by Pro Bono SG and the Migrant Workers’ Centre, the Migrant Workers’ Law Centre is Singapore’s first dedicated legal clinic for migrant workers.

Based in Little India, it offers free legal advice and representation on issues ranging from unpaid wages and wrongful dismissal to injury claims, contract disputes and criminal charges.

The centre is already making an impact, becoming a vital touch point for workers navigating the legal system, particularly those unfamiliar with their rights or without the means to hire legal representation.

Sadhana was there from blueprint to opening day. “We had been working on migrant matters for years, but it was only around 10 months before the launch that we formally kick-started talks to establish a dedicated centre,” she recalls.

From lobbying for a dedicated space and securing support to shaping how services would be delivered, she was involved at every step. She credits the effort to a close-knit team.

“My colleague Pramnath Vijayakumar and I were involved in all of these things, alongside my team members Bhavani Sahadevan, Nur Shukrina Abdul Salam, and Shambhavi Chouhan. It was a real team effort.”

“It wasn’t just about putting up walls. We had to ask: What do migrant workers really need in a legal crisis? And how can we meet those needs without making them feel scrutinised?” she says.

The process included setting up back-end systems, mapping out client triaging protocols, and integrating non-legal support into the service model.

Then came the physical space itself.

“We painted the walls ourselves, chose the colours, and set up the furniture. Migrant workers built Singapore with their hands; the least we could do was build this centre with ours.”

The work at MWLC deals with very tangible situations that have deep consequences. Today, the centre helps workers navigate salary disputes, workplace injuries, scams, and even how to present themselves in court.

She recalls one of the first cases that left a lasting mark. On a Friday evening in 2016, a distraught foreigner rushed into the Pro Bono SG office in tears. He had spent his entire savings on a private lawyer, only to be dropped days before trial.

The trial was set for the following Monday. With little time and no margin for error, she and a colleague took the case themselves.

“We burnt the midnight oil that weekend reviewing evidence, preparing submissions, and planning our strategy,” Sadhana says.

By Monday morning, they were in court – and the outrage of modesty charges were dropped.

“It took two lawyers and one weekend to completely transform the life of someone who thought his world had collapsed,” she reflects.

These encounters shaped her belief that legal aid is as much about the journey as the outcome.

“I’ve handled many cases where the person still had to go to jail, but they came back to thank us, because someone took the time to explain what was happening, to walk alongside them. They weren’t just another case number. They mattered.”

Her passion for justice extends beyond people. Since 2022, she has served as Honorary General Secretary on the board of the SPCA.

At first, she imagined light-hearted work “cuddling puppies”, as she puts it with a laugh. The reality was far weightier: drafting policy, advocating for stronger penalties, and helping craft the SPCA white paper on animal welfare.

Her introduction to the role came with heartbreak. On her first shelter tour, she met Bell, a frail senior dog surrendered under the pretence of abandonment. In truth, he had kidney disease and his family no longer wanted to care for him.

“He looked defeated, sitting in the corner. He wasn’t easy to look at, but I loved him the moment I saw him,” she recalls.

She and her husband decided to take him home, to give him comfort in his final days. But on the very morning they were due to collect him, Bell passed away at the SPCA clinic.

“It was devastating. I wanted him to die in a loving home, not in a cage. What gave me comfort was knowing the SPCA staff never gave up on him. They loved him till the end.”

She arranged for his cremation and a Hindu prayer, honouring the life that had been discarded.

“It taught me not to be misguided by appearances. You must take the effort to look deeper. That’s true for animals, and it’s true for people.”

“I don’t think there was ever any question about what Sadhana would grow up to do,” says Aarthi Sankar, former CEO of the SPCA and now head of Make-A-Wish Singapore.

“I’m pretty sure she was born with a law book in her hand,” she adds with a laugh, recalling their junior college days. “At 17, she already had a sharp sense of justice. Anyone who’s met her knows her heart is with people, and her purpose is to make the wrong things right.”

Whether it’s a vulnerable person or an abused animal, Sadhana shows up with conviction.

“She goes all out to ensure that everyone who needs a voice gets one. I truly believe she didn’t choose this path. The path chose her,” says Aarthi.

Relishing solitude after work

Despite her public armour, Sadhana is disarmingly candid about what life looks like away from the courtroom.

“I wish I had an interesting answer for you. There is no Sadhana outside work,” she laughs.

“But when I do have time, it’s not very exciting. I enjoy being on my couch with my dog and my cat. We’re usually cuddling, watching Korean dramas. That’s my guilty pleasure. You heard it here first.”

True crime shows and podcasts fill the quieter hours. Sometimes, she cycles or drives with her dog in tow, listening to episodes that unravel unsolved cases.

These days, she is learning to relish solitude.

“When I was younger, I felt the need to go out, to seek affirmation from friends, to be part of something bigger. Now I’m comfortable with who I am. I’m happy to be with my pets, because I already feel like I’m part of something bigger.”

Her mornings begin with a workout, coffee, and “protected time”. Evenings are for unwinding – Netflix, her husband, and their pets at her feet, before going to bed by 10pm.

Her family remains her anchor. She speaks openly about privilege and the stability that her parents had given her.

“Education is a privilege. Having a stable, supportive family is a privilege. Many women, be it single mothers, or women overwhelmed with work, don’t have that. I never take it for granted.”

Friends and colleagues often describe Sadhana as passionate. It shows in every part of her life – in court, with her pets, at SPCA meetings, or volunteering at the migrant workers’ law centre.

Her dedication has made her a notable figure in Singapore’s legal and advocacy circles, earning historic firsts along the way.

She was the first full-time pro bono lawyer, and the first woman to receive the Joseph Grimberg Outstanding Young Advocate Award in 2023.

She was also the first practising lawyer named to the National Council of Social Service’s 40-Under-40 leadership programme in 2022, recognised for bridging legal access with social support.

Beyond her own work, she often invests in the next generation, mentoring young lawyers, running the CLAS Training Programme, and leading the Lady Advocates Group, a professional network supporting women in law.

In 2025, she received the Excellence Award for her enduring impact in widening access to justice and inspiring future advocates.

“This work is about building trust where trust has been broken, and offering hope where there was once only silence,” she says.

“If people walk through our doors thinking they don’t matter, then it’s our job to show them that they do.”

After more than a decade in courtrooms and communities, advocating, mentoring and bridging law with social needs, Sadhana now asks herself: What lasting imprint does she want to leave behind?

Not lists or titles, but recognition that passion, pursued with integrity, can reshape what justice means.

“I want young lawyers to know that you can dedicate your life to giving back, and still be recognised for excellence. Passion isn’t a liability; it’s your greatest weapon,” she says.

Text & coordination: Syed Zulfadhli
Photography: Phyllicia Wang
Art direction: Adeline Eng & Ray Ticsay
Styling: Donson Chan
Hair: Aung Apichai, using Kevin.Murphy
Makeup: Benedict Choo, using Clé de Peau Beauté