Woman jailed for repeatedly abusing maid
Real estate agent kicked maid, pulled her hair and pinched her
A real estate agent assaulted her mother's Indonesian maid less than one month after the maid started working in the household and repeatedly abused her.
The abuse came to light after a neighbour alerted the police.
The neighbour became aware of the abuse after coming across notes by the abused maid to her friend working next door.
During the four-day trial, Ms Ema Rahmawati, 24, testified that Khoo Mee Choo punched her head, hit her with a bunch of chopsticks, kicked her buttocks, pulled her hair and pinched her arm.
District Judge Kan Shuk Weng found Khoo, 64, guilty of five counts of maid abuse and sentenced her to 28 weeks' jail yesterday.
In his submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenny Yang told the court that Ms Ema came to Singapore in December 2016 and Khoo started verbally abusing her that month.
The abuse turned physical by January last year when Khoo pulled Ms Ema's hair as she felt her work was not "up to standard".
Ms Ema told Judge Kan that Khoo repeatedly pinched her between January and April last year.
DPP Yang said: "She is able to recall the first incident... after she accidentally splashed water on the accused when she was washing the dishes. She is also able to recall one other incident immediately after she had cleaned the toilet of the accused. Displeased with her work performance, the accused immediately pinched her."
The court heard Khoo continued abusing the maid until April last year. Despite Khoo's orders, Ms Ema befriended Ms Atika, another Indonesian maid, who worked next door, and passed Ms Atika notes about her plight.
Ms Atika left Singapore in February last year and her employer found the notes while cleaning her room.
The court heard Khoo's neighbour, known only as Wendy, began talking with Ms Ema.
DPP Yang said: "The victim started to tell Wendy about the abuse and sought Wendy's assistance. Wendy called for the police after she was concerned about the last note to her from the victim, which she recalled stated that the victim was 'unable to take it any more'."
Khoo claimed she neither physically assaulted Ms Ema nor raised her voice at her, alleging that the maid had fabricated the evidence.
Her lawyer Lee Wei Fan said Khoo, who has been diagnosed with stage three colon cancer, had been under "tremendous stress" and had acted out of character. The lawyer added that the offences were not premeditated.
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