What is this world coming to, when higher caste folks can no longer abuse their serfs and withhold their pay?
Unhappy with her maid's cooking, she grabbed a metal ladle, heated it over the stove until it was red hot and scalded the Myanmar woman's leg and bare back.
On another occasion, when Suganthi Jayaraman felt Ms Naw Mu Den Paw was cooking too slowly, she whacked her head with a metal pestle, causing her to bleed profusely.
Suganthi, 33, did not take Ms Naw, 24, to a doctor, or provide any medication. Instead, she scolded her for inspecting the wounds.
The maid's suffering ended only when she fled the Woodlands Drive 16 flat to report the matter to the police.
Yesterday, Suganthi appeared in court and pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to Ms Naw.
Ms Naw began working for Suganthi in April 2013, earning $400 a month.
The abuse began in July 2013 when Suganthi hit Ms Naw's shoulders and pulled her hair, causing the maid to hit her head on a wall.
On Sept 20, she instructed Ms Naw to fry vadai, an Indian fritter, in the kitchen between 10am and noon so that she could pack them up and sell them at her provision shop.
But when Suganthi saw that her maid was not frying the vadai fast enough, she grabbed a 15cm metal pestle and hit her head, near her right eyebrow and at the back of her head.
Even as Ms Naw bled heavily from the blows, she was not taken to the hospital and had to continue frying the vadai.
She also had to throw away her bloodstained shirt.
A week later, Ms Naw was cooking when Suganthi tried out her curry.
Unhappy with the taste, she took a scorching metal ladle and swept it over Ms Naw's left calf.
She also ordered the maid to lift her shirt and scalded her bare back with it.
HIDE INJURY
Suganthi instructed her maid to wear long pants to conceal the injury when sending the children to school and when she was working at the provision shop.
Ms Naw was not given any medication.
On Sept 30, Ms Naw was told to wake up at 6.30am to take Suganthi's daughter to school.
But having completed her duties only at 4am, the maid overslept and got up at 7.30am.
When Suganthi found out her daughter was still at home, she confronted and harshly reprimanded her maid.
She then used her right hand to punch Ms Naw's left eye.
The abuse continued till October.
Ms Naw lived in constant fear of being beaten up. She was so terrified she did not even dare to inspect her own wounds as Suganthi would scold her for doing so.
Suganthi would also threaten Ms Naw that she would face consequences if she ran away or called the police.
But the maid could not take it any more - she fled and reported the abuse to a police officer whom she met at a nearby void deck on Oct 3, 2013.
Yesterday, Suganthi admitted to two counts of voluntarily causing hurt and one charge of voluntarily causing hurt using a weapon on Ms Naw.
Four other charges will also be taken into consideration for sentencing.
Suganthi sobbed loudly in the dock and on several instances, appeared to lean against the dock's railings.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sarah Chua said Suganthi's actions were deliberate, malicious and showed a profound lack of respect for Ms Naw's welfare and dignity.
She said that during the course of investigations, Suganthi had claimed the matter was a scheme concocted by Ms Naw to extort more money from her, and that the injuries were either self-inflicted or caused by an alleged boyfriend.
DPP Chua urged the court to impose a jail term of between 12 and 16 months as well as a compensation order of $4,900, noting that the maid had been unemployed for 12 months after she had run away.
Ms Naw is now working for another family, she said.
Suganthi's lawyer, Mr Louis Joseph, said in mitigation that his client was remorseful and regretted her actions.
Suganthi is expected to be sentenced on June 5.
Other cases
MAY 13
Retiree Lum Wai Lui was convicted of two charges after a court heard how she slapped the face of her Filipino maid, 25, and knocked her head against the wall at her Maplewoods condominium.
The 74-year-old had also poured bleach on the hands and arms of the maid. The case was adjourned to June 29.
APRIL 29
Low Gek Hong, a tutor who abused a 17-year-old maid over three months, was sentenced to nine months' jail.
She repeatedly scratched the Myanmar maid on the face, arms and ears, and used a pair of scissors to poke the maid's left shoulder because the maid could not find a pillowcase. Low also kicked the maid, bit her and hit her with a metal hanger.
SEPT 10, 2014
Chan Huey Fern, 33, was sentenced to 24 months' jail after inflicting severe injuries on a 25-year-old Indonesian maid.
Chan punched her maid in the eye and chest, kicked her in the groin until the latter bled. She stamped on her body on separate occasions. She also hit the back of the maid with a foldable chair.
- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/she-burns-maid-red-hot-ladle#sthash.6CigAFi6.dpuf
