Updated: 08/07/2013 17:00 | By Channel NewsAsia
Woman jailed 21 months for abusing maid
SINGAPORE: A 32-year-old woman has been sentenced to 21 months’ jail for abusing her maid.
Chan Huey Fern was tried on five of 12 counts of causing hurt to her domestic worker, Juwarti.
She was convicted of voluntarily causing hurt last month.
The offences took place in 2010 at Chan's flat in Buangkok Link.
The court heard that Chan punched the Indonesian domestic helper in the eye, and kicked her on her body as well as on her private parts until she bled.
When the maid was unable to sit or stand up because of the pain, Chan threatened to torture her the next day if she did not walk upright.
District Judge Low Wee Ping told the court that this is one of the most distressing domestic maid abuse cases in Singapore.
He added that Chan's behaviour was both deplorable and repugnant.
Chan has denied the charges, and maintains that the injuries Juwarti suffered were either "self-inflicted" or from an "unknown external source".
Her lawyer, Louis Lim, told reporters that his client will be appealing against both the conviction and sentence.
In meting out the sentence, the judge noted that Juwarti had suffered a systematic pattern of abuse over a period of nine months, with the scale of abuse escalating over time.
The court heard evidence during the trial that Chan had committed acts such as pushing the maid's head against the edge of a toilet door, and assaulting her by kicking her and punching her.
Eventually, the maid ran away and called for an ambulance.
The judge pointed out that injuries had been caused to the vulnerable parts of Juwarti's body.
He said: "It must have been extremely humiliating and distressing for Ms Juwarti... She had not been in Singapore for very long when the abuses started and she had no one she could turn to. You, the very person who ought to have protected her, had become her relentless tormentor."
The judge also noted that Chan was unremorseful, and had put Juwarti through the trauma of a trial.
Chan, who appeared expressionless as she stood in the dock, shook her head occasionally as the judge read the grounds of decision on her sentence.
The remaining charges have been stood down, and Chan is currently out on a S$20,000 bail. - CNA/xq
Woman jailed 21 months for abusing maid
SINGAPORE: A 32-year-old woman has been sentenced to 21 months’ jail for abusing her maid.
Chan Huey Fern was tried on five of 12 counts of causing hurt to her domestic worker, Juwarti.
She was convicted of voluntarily causing hurt last month.
The offences took place in 2010 at Chan's flat in Buangkok Link.
The court heard that Chan punched the Indonesian domestic helper in the eye, and kicked her on her body as well as on her private parts until she bled.
When the maid was unable to sit or stand up because of the pain, Chan threatened to torture her the next day if she did not walk upright.
District Judge Low Wee Ping told the court that this is one of the most distressing domestic maid abuse cases in Singapore.
He added that Chan's behaviour was both deplorable and repugnant.
Chan has denied the charges, and maintains that the injuries Juwarti suffered were either "self-inflicted" or from an "unknown external source".
Her lawyer, Louis Lim, told reporters that his client will be appealing against both the conviction and sentence.
In meting out the sentence, the judge noted that Juwarti had suffered a systematic pattern of abuse over a period of nine months, with the scale of abuse escalating over time.
The court heard evidence during the trial that Chan had committed acts such as pushing the maid's head against the edge of a toilet door, and assaulting her by kicking her and punching her.
Eventually, the maid ran away and called for an ambulance.
The judge pointed out that injuries had been caused to the vulnerable parts of Juwarti's body.
He said: "It must have been extremely humiliating and distressing for Ms Juwarti... She had not been in Singapore for very long when the abuses started and she had no one she could turn to. You, the very person who ought to have protected her, had become her relentless tormentor."
The judge also noted that Chan was unremorseful, and had put Juwarti through the trauma of a trial.
Chan, who appeared expressionless as she stood in the dock, shook her head occasionally as the judge read the grounds of decision on her sentence.
The remaining charges have been stood down, and Chan is currently out on a S$20,000 bail. - CNA/xq
