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Couple found guilty of abusing second domestic helper who was slapped, caned, forced to eat her own vomit

SINGAPORE — Already facing jail time for abusing their Indonesian domestic helper, a married couple was found guilty on Monday (March 4) for abusing their Burmese domestic helper for 10 months at their Yishun home.

Composite image of Tay Wee Kiat (left) and his wife Chia Yun Ling, who were found guilty for abusing their Burmese domestic helper for 10 months at their Yishun home.

Composite image of Tay Wee Kiat (left) and his wife Chia Yun Ling, who were found guilty for abusing their Burmese domestic helper for 10 months at their Yishun home.

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SINGAPORE — Already facing jail time for abusing their Indonesian domestic helper, a married couple was found guilty on Monday (March 4) for abusing their Burmese domestic helper for 10 months at their Yishun home.

After a 31-day trial, former IT manager Tay Wee Kiat, 41, was convicted of six charges of causing hurt to Ms Moe Moe Than, such as using a metal clothing hook and broomstick to hit her buttocks. District Judge Olivia Low acquitted him of three similar charges.

Tay’s wife Chia Yun Ling, 43, was convicted of 15 charges and acquitted of two charges. The prosecution withdrew one charge against her during the trial.

Apart from pushing a mixture of rice and sugar into Ms Than’s mouth with a funnel, Chia told the maid to eat her own vomit. She once made Ms Than, 31, do chores without her blouse on, and slapped her on several occasions.

Ms Than worked for the couple from Jan 8 to Nov 12 in 2012, when she was sent back to Myanmar without any explanation. This overlapped with the Indonesian helper Fitriyah’s employment.

Ms Than returned to Singapore one month later to file a report against the couple. When she was examined at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, doctors found multiple healed scars on her forearm, wrist and hip.

Ms Than’s monthly salary of S$400, plus S$20 for having no day off, was withheld from her throughout her 10 months of employment. She focused on household chores, while Ms Fitriyah generally took care of the couple’s three young children, who were aged seven, three and one at the time.

Last year, in a landmark decision, a three-judge High Court panel increased Tay’s jail term to 43 months, up from 28 months, for abusing Ms Fitriyah. Chia faces two months behind bars for abusing Ms Fitriyah.

Both Tay and Chia remain out on S$15,000 bail each, and will return to court on March 18 for mitigation and sentencing. District Judge Low denied their request to travel to Johor Baru.

WHAT TAY DID

  • Made Ms Than, a Christian, and Ms Fitriyah, a Muslim, “worship" in front of a Buddhist altar 100 times, then slap each other 10 times. They testified that Tay said they had moved a small cloth on the altar without his permission.

  • Kicked Ms Than while she was in a push-up position. He got angry with the two maids over an issue with an important school paper belonging to the couple’s oldest daughter, and told them to get into a push-up position in the living room before kicking them.

  • Caned both of them on their heads because the couple’s daughter refused to study.

  • Hit Ms Than’s buttocks with a broomstick and metal clothing hook. This was on a day she woke up late.

  • Pulled her out of a bedroom and threw her against a wall, because he said she was cleaning it too slowly.

  • Caned her on the palm and buttocks, because she chipped the edge of a table while cleaning it.

HE WAS CLEARED OF: 

  • Instructing Ms Fitriyah to hit Ms Than on the buttocks with a metal pole.

  • Hitting Ms Than with a metal stick repeatedly.

  • Instructing Ms Fitriyah to hit Ms Than with a bundle of three canes tied together.

WHAT CHIA DID

  • Forced a mixture of rice and sugar into Ms Than’s open mouth through a funnel, because Ms Than said she did not have enough to eat.

  • Made her eat her own vomit from a plastic bag, after the helper could not swallow the mixture of rice and sugar and ran to the toilet to vomit.

  • Forced her to remove her blouse and do her chores wearing only her bra and short pants.

  • Threatened to hire someone to kill her family in Myanmar if she told others how she had been abused in the household.

  • Failed to provide her with enough food to eat. Ms Than initially had rice and cabbage to eat, but subsequently had only water and plain rice, which was sometimes mixed with sugar.

  • Restricted her use of the toilet to three times a day.

  • Slapped her on four occasions. Reasons included Ms Than accidentally dropping their youngest daughter as she was tired, forgetting to switch off a running tap when she was cleaning, and not washing bed sheets.

  • Pulled her hair, pushed her to the floor and stepped on her chest after she caught Ms Than looking at herself in the mirror of a toy.

  • Caned Ms Than on the head because she dozed off while massaging her foot.

  • Did not give her enough rest daily. She would wake up at 5.30am and only sleep past midnight – after massaging Chia’s foot.

  • Caned her on the buttocks after ordering her to remove her shorts and panties. Chia had found some plastic boxes in the study room to be dusty.

SHE WAS CLEARED OF: 

  • Telling Ms Than to take off all her clothes, and taking a nude photograph of her.

  • Failing to pay Ms Than’s outstanding salary of S$1,450. Chia’s ATM transaction record and written acknowledgement by Ms Than had raised reasonable doubt on whether Chia had committed the offence, said the judge.

  • Failing to bear the cost of repatriating Ms Than to Myanmar. This charge was withdrawn by the prosecution.

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