Man jailed 4 weeks for aiding wife who abused maid

SINGAPORE - An IT programmer who aided his wife in abusing their Indonesian domestic worker was today (Aug 2) jailed four weeks by a district court.

Tang Leng Khuen, 44, pleaded guilty last month to hitting the maid - Lilis Sriyatun - on her back with a plastic clothes hanger and kicking her in the stomach.

The incident took place in 2009.

Tang’s wife, Soh Meiyun, was sentenced to 16 months’ jail last December after a district court found her guilty of torturing the domestic worker with a bamboo pole, hot spoon and sewing needle because she was unhappy with the worker’s job performance.

The domestic worker was abused on an almost daily basis and eventually ran away and sought a stranger’s help.

Soh, who is out on bail, is appealing against the sentence.

In meting out Tang’s sentence today, District Judge Lee Poh Choo noted that Tang was aware that his wife was abusing the domestic worker.

The judge noted that instead of helping the domestic worker, Tang assaulted her as well.

The judge said there can be no excuse for a male assaulting a female, more so when it is a foreign domestic worker who is at his mercy.

“Even though there is no medical report on the psychological effects, she must have suffered fear, indignity, pain, and suffering over three months,” said the judge.

In mitigation, Tang’s lawyer asked for a lenient sentence as his client is the sole breadwinner, and the couple have a young child.

He added that Tang’s wife has a mental condition that makes it difficult for her to care for their child, and they do not have much family support.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Yew said Tang had displayed “scant evidence” of any remorse, and had only pleaded guilty to the offence after his wife was convicted.

Mr Yew added that although Tang had compensated the victim, this was done only after his wife’s conviction.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Tang could have been jailed up to one year, and fined S$1,000. CHANNEL NEWSASIA