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Maid testifies that employer hit her on her head and mouth with a hammer
Indonesian maid Khanifah said she was hit with a hammer about five times and twice on the mouth during the second half of her employment in 2012.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
Published 10 hours ago
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
SINGAPORE - An Indonesian maid told a court on Monday (April 18) of various abuses at the hands of her female employer, who allegedly used an array of weapons to hit her body, head and face.
Ms Khanifah, 35, was on the stand at the start of the trial of Zariah Mohd Ali, 54. The prosecution is proceeding on 12 of 28 charges of maid abuse. Her husband, Mohamad Dahlan, 56, faces one charge of hitting the maid on the head with the cover of a frying pan.
The maid said she was hit with a hammer about five times and twice on the mouth during the second half of her employment in 2012 at the couple's flat in Woodlands.
She said Zariah used the blunt side of the hammer to hit her hard on the back of her head after complaining that she had not cleaned the toilet properly and fast enough.
The first time she was hit on the head, she shouted: "Ma'am, sakit (pain)''. She went to the kitchen toilet to clean the wound on her head and put a small towel to cover the wound but it was not enough.
The maid said: "Ma'am gave me something to wipe my head. She used Softex (sanitary pad) to cover the blood but the blood kept spilling out,'' she said in Bahasa Indonesia through an interpreter.
Recounting a final hammer incident, she said she was cleaning Zariah's toilet when the latter again scolded and hit her with the hammer.
Though paralysed on the left hand, Zariah used her right hand to strike her "very hard", said Ms Khanifah,
This time, she said, she bled more than the first time as the previous injury had not healed.
She said she had to clean the head injury in the kitchen toilet. She said she again used a small towel and Zariah threw the Softex towards her.
She said she was not given any medicine and Zariah did not care.
She took off her tudung in the witness stand to show the court a large patch on the back of her head after she was asked the state of her scalp by Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz.
Ms Khanifah also testified that Zariah hit her on the lower lip when she was cleaning outside of Zariah's room.
She said Zariah asked her to grin and bare her teeth. Zariah then hit her on the middle of her bottom lip. She said her gum bled; her lip was swollen and her two lower teeth, shaky.
She also recounted a time when two of her bottom teeth were knocked out when Zariah called her and scolded her while she was cleaning the kitchen.
She said parts of her top teeth broke, too. "It was very painful," she said.
Besides the hammer, Zariah allegedly used a bamboo pole to hit Ms Khanifah's left ear resulting in permanent disfiguration.
Zariah also allegedly used a stone pounder to disfigure her head; stabbed her on the shoulder with a pair of scissors; and stabbed her on the forearm with a chopper.
Indonesian domestic worker Ms Khanifah (pictured) said she did not ask for help from immigration officers at the airport as she was "already happy that I am going home and leaving the devil's house".ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
Published 2 hours ago
She says employer, who faces abuse charges, made her hide injuries with tudung, make-up
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
When she was sent home after suffering multiple injuries allegedly inflicted by her employer, an Indonesian domestic worker said she was glad to have left the "devil's house".
Ms Khanifah, 35, told a court yesterday her employer, Zariah Mohd Ali, 54, gave her a long-sleeved shirt, pants and a tudung to cover the injuries on her head on Dec 19, 2012 - the day she was sent home.
Zariah's daughter, Ms Atiqah, 18, made up her face to cover her injuries and gave her a pair of glasses to wear, Ms Khanifah said, adding that she then had bruises on her face, blue-black marks below her eyes and injuries on her lips, forehead, nose and ears.
She said she had repeatedly asked to return home because Zariah lied to her that her child had died. When Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz asked why Zariah decided to send her back in December, Ms Khanifah said: "Because I was due for my second medical check-up.''
Zariah only told her the night before that she would be sent back, said Ms Khanifah, who started work at the household on Nov 30, 2011.
She did not ask for help from immigration officers at the airport as she was "already happy that I am going home and leaving the devil's house''.
Zariah, who turned up in court in a wheelchair, is accused of hurting Ms Khanifah by dangerous means and causing her grievous hurt by dangerous means, resulting in permanent disfiguration to her head and face between June and December 2012. Zariah allegedly used an array of weapons - a hammer, chopper, stone pounder, scissors and bamboo pole - to injure Ms Khanifah.
Zariah's husband, Mohamad Dahlan, 56, is alleged to have hit Ms Khanifah on the head with the cover of a frying pan.
Ms Khanifah said she did not tell her husband about the "torture'' that she endured when she met him as she just wanted to meet her children. Her mother noticed the injuries on her head the following morning, she said.
Ms Khanifah said she had to borrow from friends and relatives to pay for her medical expenses. She asked Zariah for money and the latter sent her 1 million rupiah (S$103) for her treatment. Ms Khanifah was warded for 15 days in a Jakarta hospital in January 2013 for her injuries.
In a statement, she stated that she had, among other injuries, two front teeth detached as a result of a hammer attack; a broken left pinkie; very blurred vision in the right eye due to the splashing of liquid detergent; and wrists sliced with a knife.
When she went out while here, she was made to wear a tudung to cover the injuries on her head, and a sweater to cover her hand injuries.
She told the court she could not run away as the windows and doors of the Woodlands flat were locked. Neither could she call anyone as Zariah claimed the phone was "locked'' and no calls out could be made. Whenever the family had visitors, she said Zariah would ask her to hide in the kitchen toilet.
She came back to Singapore on April 27, 2013 - 16 days after an Indonesian Embassy staff member lodged a police report on her behalf.
When asked how she felt about her appearance now, she replied: "I feel sad.. because I am already deformed.''
As for who was responsible for her deformities, she said: "Ma'am should be responsible for it.''
In the afternoon, the couple's lawyer Jayakumar Naidu told District Judge Luke Tan that Zariah had chest pain and was unable to continue. The hearing was then adjourned till today.
