Post by Janny on Jun 6, 2005 10:46:35 GMT 10
Maid's abused for 1 1/2 years :Housewife jailed.
A woman who assaulted her Indonesian maid over an 18 months period was sentenced to a total of five months' jail for what has been described as a horrific case of maid abuse.Magistrate Adriel Loh had harsh words for Pauline Ang,33,who punched,kicked and caned her maid in a pattern of abuse and cruelty which lasted from August 2002 to February last year.
"Often,the cruel and inhumane form of punishment took the form of canning or hitting the maid on various parts of her body,often for simple mistakes." The abuses were degrading and humiliating " he said.
But what he found most aggravating was that Ang,a housewife,was neither remorseful nor apologetic "The absence of any apology and the constant pattern of abuse lead me to the irresistible conclusion that she felt completely justified in what she was doing.
" She was completely blind to the inhumane cruelty and degrading abuse she was subjecting her vulnerable domestic worker to.This can not be " said Mr Loh.
Ang,who has three children pleaded guilty midway through her trial to four charges of hurting Ms Liswiarti Kartono,24,at her former Lentor Avenue-and her Thomson Hill home.
She punished her maid for mistakes such as mixing the towels with the clothes in the washing machine,getting some books wet and serving expired Yakult milk to her two children.Her abuses came to light after the Manpower Ministry received an anonymous letter reporting the maid abuse,on Feb 18 last year .An MOM official who investigated the matter later made a police report.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Wen Hsien said the maid has testified that she did not know what to do and where to turn to for help.and that she had suffered silently at the hands of her eomployer.
"The evidence suggests that there is a pattern of abuse perpetrated by the accused against the victim,and the result of this abuse had even been witnessed by neighbouring maids and the accused's relatives" she said.
Ang was pregnant when her trial began in January this year.The case went on for a few more days in February and April before she decided to throw in the towel on May 11.Her lawyer,Mr Iriving Choh,said she pleaded guilty midway because she was "concerned over the severe implications of a conviction " She was worried about her then unborn child,now three months old,her two other children aged seven and five ,and the possibility of her marriage breaking down.
He added that Ang realized the folly and seriousness of her actions,and had paid $ 5000 to the maid and another $ 4000 to the maid agency.But his words cut no ice with the magistrate.
Foreign Domestic workers,Mr Loh said,have become an essential part of society here,raising children and cooking food for their employers.
"When a maid enters our households,she is in an extremely vulnerable position,often unaware of her legal rights or with whom she may seek recourse.She is literally at the mercy and temper of her employer.
"They are not slaves.And the law will not tolerate those who mistreat them as such."
For more description of what she did to the maid, see
www.netmaid.com.sg/?f=public.newsarchive&page=detail&news=422
Quite horrific huh
A woman who assaulted her Indonesian maid over an 18 months period was sentenced to a total of five months' jail for what has been described as a horrific case of maid abuse.Magistrate Adriel Loh had harsh words for Pauline Ang,33,who punched,kicked and caned her maid in a pattern of abuse and cruelty which lasted from August 2002 to February last year.
"Often,the cruel and inhumane form of punishment took the form of canning or hitting the maid on various parts of her body,often for simple mistakes." The abuses were degrading and humiliating " he said.
But what he found most aggravating was that Ang,a housewife,was neither remorseful nor apologetic "The absence of any apology and the constant pattern of abuse lead me to the irresistible conclusion that she felt completely justified in what she was doing.
" She was completely blind to the inhumane cruelty and degrading abuse she was subjecting her vulnerable domestic worker to.This can not be " said Mr Loh.
Ang,who has three children pleaded guilty midway through her trial to four charges of hurting Ms Liswiarti Kartono,24,at her former Lentor Avenue-and her Thomson Hill home.
She punished her maid for mistakes such as mixing the towels with the clothes in the washing machine,getting some books wet and serving expired Yakult milk to her two children.Her abuses came to light after the Manpower Ministry received an anonymous letter reporting the maid abuse,on Feb 18 last year .An MOM official who investigated the matter later made a police report.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Wen Hsien said the maid has testified that she did not know what to do and where to turn to for help.and that she had suffered silently at the hands of her eomployer.
"The evidence suggests that there is a pattern of abuse perpetrated by the accused against the victim,and the result of this abuse had even been witnessed by neighbouring maids and the accused's relatives" she said.
Ang was pregnant when her trial began in January this year.The case went on for a few more days in February and April before she decided to throw in the towel on May 11.Her lawyer,Mr Iriving Choh,said she pleaded guilty midway because she was "concerned over the severe implications of a conviction " She was worried about her then unborn child,now three months old,her two other children aged seven and five ,and the possibility of her marriage breaking down.
He added that Ang realized the folly and seriousness of her actions,and had paid $ 5000 to the maid and another $ 4000 to the maid agency.But his words cut no ice with the magistrate.
Foreign Domestic workers,Mr Loh said,have become an essential part of society here,raising children and cooking food for their employers.
"When a maid enters our households,she is in an extremely vulnerable position,often unaware of her legal rights or with whom she may seek recourse.She is literally at the mercy and temper of her employer.
"They are not slaves.And the law will not tolerate those who mistreat them as such."
For more description of what she did to the maid, see
www.netmaid.com.sg/?f=public.newsarchive&page=detail&news=422
Quite horrific huh
