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Tag: maid abuse

  • Malay Employer Who Abused Maid Sentenced To 16 Weeks’ Jail

    Malay Employer Who Abused Maid Sentenced To 16 Weeks’ Jail

    For 11 months, the maid endured “frequent abuse” at the hands of her employer, who spat on her face, called her names, withheld her salary and on one occasion, ripped her tudung, or headscarf, off her head. Ms Intan Atikah tried to run away once, but was caught and “carried back to the flat”, the court heard. Neighbours had called the police to their block at Clementi Avenue 3 at least three times between December 2015 and March 2016, alarmed by the maid’s loud cries and concerned that she was being beaten.

    On Wednesday (Jun 28), her employer, Suriyati Matrawee, 42, was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail. She was convicted of three charges, including two for using criminal force against Ms Intan, 28, and one for hurting her. Another three charges were taken into consideration. It was Suriyati’s eight-year-old daughter who first began to abuse the maid, shortly after Ms Intan started working for the family in April 2015, the court heard. The girl punched and kicked the maid’s face and arms, and though Ms Intan told Suriyati about the abuse, the mother did not put a stop to it.

    Suriyati started abusing the maid herself in December 2015, Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Rene Jeyaraj said. On Dec 12, neighbours called the police to report “loud banging noises” coming from the flat. “I heard (the) maid shouting, I think (she is) getting beaten”, the neighbour told police. Suriyati admitted she spat on Ms Intan’s face about five times because the maid had not “finished ironing the clothes on time”. When officers arrived at the flat, Suriyati hugged Ms Intan and begged her not to tell the police what she had done. The maid believed her employer would change, and did not tell the officers about the abuse. But later that same day, while Ms Intan was working in the kitchen, Suriyati grabbed her and stepped on her foot, twisting it. The maid’s foot started to swell and bruise, but Suriyati did not take her to a doctor.

    On a car ride home in February 2016, Suriyati, helped by her daughter, pulled the maid’s tudung off and stepped on it, because she was angry Ms Intan had not “looked after the children” properly. The eight-year-old helped her mother pull off the maid’s tudung and had also hit her. When they got out of the car, Suriyati threw the headscarf away. When Ms Intan tried to run away on Mar 6, 2016, Suriyati chased after her. A neighbour saw Suriyati and a man pry the maid’s hands off a railing and carry her back into the flat. The concerned neighbour called the police after he heard “a loud bang” coming from the flat and “the maid crying loudly”. This time, when officers arrived, Ms Intan told them about the abuse.

    Sentencing Suriyati to 16 weeks’ jail on Wednesday, District Judge Mathew Joseph said the mother’s actions were “deplorable” and had set a bad example for her three children. Besides her eight-year-old daughter, Suriyati has two sons aged seven and four. Judge Joseph also said the abuse was “degrading” and chastised the woman for her “shameless audacity” in telling the maid not to report the abuse. “You tried to cover up your conduct when (the police) arrived, clearly you knew (what you did) was wrong”, the judge said.

    Source: Channel News Asia

  • Employer Jailed 15 Months For Abuse Of Myanmar Maid

    Employer Jailed 15 Months For Abuse Of Myanmar Maid

    For “cruel and inhumane” acts including scalding her domestic helper with a red-hot ladle because the curry cooked was not up to her standard, a 33-year-old minimart owner was sentenced to 15 months’ jail and ordered to compensate her victim S$4,900 today (June 25) by the State Courts.

    District Judge Christopher Goh ordered Jayaraman Suganthi to compensate Ms Naw Mu Den Paw for the time the latter could not work due to ongoing investigations.

    Suganthi’s offences were deliberate and malicious, and showed a profound lack of respect for the victim’s welfare, said DJ Goh, who noted that cases of maid abuse warrant a deterrent and retributive sentence. “You treated the victim more as chattel than a fellow human being,” he told Suganthi.

    Suganthi’s offences were particularly aggravated by her “carelessness and lack of sympathy” in not taking Ms Naw for medical treatment, added the judge.

    The abuse took place over four months between July and October 2013, and ended only after the victim ran away on Oct 3, he noted.

    Suganthi pleaded guilty last month to three counts of voluntarily causing hurt, and had three similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing. The prosecution had pressed for a jail term of 12 to 16 months for her.

    Besides placing the hot ladle on Ms Naw’s back and calf, Suganthi used a metal pestle on another occasion to hit the 24-year-old Myanmar national. This was because Ms Naw was not frying an Indian snack called vadai “fast enough”.

    On a third occasion, Suganthi punched and bruised her victim’s left eye for failing to wake up at 6.30am to send her daughter to school — even though the maid had only completed her chores at 4am that day.

    Despite the victim’s serious injuries, which included heavy bleeding from her head on one occasion, she was not given any medical help and was even told to wear long pants to cover up the injuries.

    Suganthi also used household items such as a broom handle and kitchen scissors to assault Ms Naw on various occasions, the court heard.

    Ms Naw lived in constant fear during the period of abuse and did not dare to inspect her wounds as Suganthi would scold her for it.

    A medical examination revealed that she had suffered visible burns and injuries on her back, head, eyes and the back of her ears.

    DJ Goh reiterated the gravity of foreign-worker abuse in sentencing Suganthi.

    “There is no legitimate reason why an employer should inflict any injury on any of (his or her) employees, let alone workers who are at a disadvantage because they are working in a foreign country,” he said. “It will be a sad reflection of our society if we allow such acts to go unpunished.”

    Suganthi, whose mother, husband and other relatives were present in court, sobbed loudly throughout the hearing today. She could have been jailed up to 10-and-a-half years and fined for causing hurt with a heated substance. She could have been jailed up to three years and fined up to S$7,500 for voluntarily causing hurt to her domestic helper.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com