20 months' jail for maid who physically abused 3-year-old child in her care repeatedly

SINGAPORE — Feeling annoyed and tired of working, a domestic helper vented her frustration on a three-year-old child in her care by hitting and pinching her repeatedly.  

The 39-year-old woman was sentenced to 20 months' jail on Monday (Jan 9). She had pleaded guilty on Dec 15 last year to two charges of ill-treating a child. Four other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. 

The maid began working for the family in July 2020 and her duties included caring for the victim, who was slightly under two-years-old then, as well as her one-year-old brother. 

They cannot be named due to an order imposed by the court to protect the victim's identity. 

In the middle of 2021, the victim's mother started to notice bruises on the girl and asked the woman if she knew the reason for them.

However, the maid said that she did not know and the victim's mother did not pursue the matter further as she thought that her child might have gotten them during her playtime. 

Around Jan 10 in 2022, the victim's mother noticed a bruise again but this time on the victim's back.

Given the location of the bruise, she suspected that her child was abused. However, the maid again denied knowing anything when she was confronted by the victim's mother. 

Initially suspecting that her child was being abused in school, the mother lodged a complaint with the preschool teacher and filed a police report.

However, the preschool management did not notice anything amiss after checking its closed circuit television (CCTV) recordings. 

During this time, the victim's mother noticed that the maid appeared nervous and had asked her how she should respond to police officers if she were to be under investigation. 

Suspicious, the victim's mother checked the CCTV recordings of her home and found out that the woman was behind her child's abuse. 

CCTV footage showed the woman abusing the child on multiple occasions, pinching her, slapping her forehead as well as twisting her cheeks. 

During one of her assaults on Jan 6, the woman used her left fist to punch the victim's stomach with so much force that she doubled over in pain while crying. 

The mother then confronted the woman on Jan 13 with snippets of the CCTV footage. 

That same day, the woman admitted her actions to the police.

However, she said that she did not remember when she committed the acts on the victim.

The child was taken to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital two days later on Jan 15. 

According to a medical report dated March 9, the child had suffered bruises on her cheeks as well as her back. 

There were also multiple circular old bruises or scars of varying ages over the child's body and limbs, though the causes are not clear. 

The maid claimed that she had abused the child out of agitation and annoyance as she was tired of working, court documents stated. 

However, while delivering the woman's sentence, District Judge Brenda Tan said that this was no excuse for her to commit such acts. 

She noted that on one occasion, the woman had hit the victim at least 29 times within a span of around six minutes.

"Even if we were to accept the explanation, there is no excuse for her to vent her frustration repeatedly on an innocent and defenceless child whom she was entrusted to care for," she said. 

For ill-treatment of a child under the Children and Young Persons Act, the woman could have been jailed for up to four years or fined up to S$4,000, or punished with both.