A family in Singapore was jailed for ill-treating their maid who had just begun working for them, attacking her with a knife and heated iron, among other acts of depravity, according to The Straits Times.
70-year-old Tan Huat, his 68-year-old wife Tan Ai Tee and their 46-year-old daughter Tan Pei Ling, made their 27-year-old maid, Heni Rahayu, start work at about 6 am and only let her go to bed between 2 am and 4 am.
They didn’t give her any off days and she was not allowed to leave their Ang Mo Kio flat on her own, and the victim also couldn’t contact her agency because she didn’t have access to a phone.
The maid’s plight was uncovered when a neighbour alerted the police.
Tan Pei Ling, who works as an events manager, pleaded guilty to 2 charges of assault and was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment. Her bail was set at $20,000 and she is expected to surrender herself to the court on 3 April to start her jail sentence.
She had splashed hot coffee on the maid and attacked her with a heated iron.
Her mother, Tan Ai Tee, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment after she assaulted Heni with a knife which drew blood. Her bail was set at $15,000 and she is expected to surrender herself to the court with her daughter on 3 April to begin her jail term.
The patriarch of the sick family, Tan Huat, was sentenced to 3 weeks imprisonment for slapping the maid, and he began his sentence on 7 March.
What happened?
Heni started working for the Tan family on 13 January 2020, and it was her first time working in Singapore. She later told Tan, after working for them for about a week, that she wanted to return to her agency because his wife and daughter never seemed to be satisfied with her work performance.
Soon after, the family then started their reign of terror against her.
Between April and June 2020, Heni was cutting vegetables when Ai Tee felt that she was doing it too slowly; she scolded the maid and grabbed the knife from the maid’s right hand, piercing it near her write with the tip of the knife and cutting her, resulting in the maid’s hand bleeding.
Ai Tee then used tissue paper to stop the bleeding, as her daughter applied some antiseptic medication on her open wound, but they didn’t bring her to see a doctor.
Ai Tee also used a plastic pail to hit the maid’s head and body on another occasion, as well as using her fist to knock the maid on her head.
In June 2020, Pei Ling used a metal pole and plastic chair to hit the victim’s body, leg and neck. In the same month, her father also used his right hand and slapped the maid’s mouth twice.
Huat then told the maid, after slapping her, that if his wife or daughter was speaking to her, she had to reply instead of keeping quiet.
On 23 July 2020, Heni was doing her chores at about 2.30 am and she felt hungry and sleepy, before going to the kitchen to make herself some coffee.
Pei Ling then entered the kitchen while the victim was mixing coffee, and got angry at the maid for taking the coffee; she then snatched the cup of hot coffee from the maid’s hand and splashed it on her body and face.
She then told the victim to iron all the clothes in the living room, adding that she would not be allowed to eat or sleep if she doesn’t complete the tasks by 5 am.
At about 4 am, Heni was still ironing the clothes when Pei Ling came and asked her if the iron was hot enough, before picking up the heated iron and placing it on the maid’s right forearm for between 1 to 2 seconds, burning her and leaving a mark.
A neighbour had heard shouting coming from Tan’s residence and she then alerted the police at about 5.50 am, with officers reaching the scene about 10 minutes later.
Heni was then conveyed to the hospital with numerous injuries on her body, including burn marks and some bruises on her face.