Maid was punched, slapped for eating wrong fish, court told
Elena Chong The Straits Times Tuesday, Apr 21, 2015
Ms Jonna Memeje Muegue was allegedly assaulted by Chua Siew Peng (above) and two family members. Ms Muegue broke her legs in trying to escape.
In 2012, a Filipino maid jumped from the bedroom window of a sixth-floor condominium unit to escape the alleged abuse by her employer and her employer's mother.
A district court heard that she landed on the fifth-floor rooftop of another building at Maplewoods condominium and broke her legs as a result.
Her employer, Chua Siew Peng, 43, went on trial yesterday for wrongfully confining Ms Jonna Memeje Muegue at the Bukit Timah Road condominium on Oct 30, 2012, and slapping her the night before.
Her 74-year-old mother, retired radiograph and medicine technician Lum Wai Lui, will know her fate next month for allegedly pulling the maid's hair, knocking her head on the wall and pouring bleach on her hands and arms on Oct 29 that year.
Chua's 41-year-old sister, Kathleen Chua Siew Wei, is also accused of slapping the maid sometime in May that year.
Yesterday, Ms Muegue, 26, who is now working for another employer, testified that she was initially treated well when she started work in December 2011.
