Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Maid acquitted of scratching 4-month-old infant’s legs, cutting tips of milk bottle teats

Nenti arrives at the State Courts on Aug 16, 2021.
Nenti arrives at the State Courts on Aug 16, 2021.
Follow TODAY on WhatsApp
  • Nenti, 25, who goes by one name, was charged with voluntarily causing hurt to an infant
  • The Indonesian domestic worker was accused of scratching the girl's legs
  • She was also accused of cutting the tips of two milk bottle teats, which control the milk flow
  • A judge said it was unsafe to convict her and noted that CCTV camera footage proved inconclusive
  • She had also retracted her admissions to the police
  • She said she initially confessed so that the case would be completed and she could return to Indonesia early

SINGAPORE — A 25-year-old domestic worker was acquitted on Friday (Jan 21) of abusing her employer’s infant daughter by scratching her legs and cutting the tips of two milk bottle teats with the intention of causing the girl to choke.

District Judge John Ng found that the prosecution had not proven its case against Nenti, who goes by one name, beyond a reasonable doubt. There was no direct proof of the alleged incidents and it was unclear if they had occurred, he said.

The Indonesian had admitted to committing the offences in police statements, but later retracted her admissions and said that she had confessed in order for investigations to be completed soon so that she could return home early.

The judge stressed that the police had not induced her to confess, but that it was “not inconceivable” she formed the impression on her own. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage submitted as evidence also proved inconclusive.

Nenti was cleared of one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to the infant and two counts of committing mischief.

After the court hearing, she broke down in tears while accompanied by staff members from the Indonesian embassy here. Later, she told reporters through a Bahasa Indonesia interpreter that she thanked God the case was over.

She was represented on a pro bono basis by defence counsel Josephine Costan from law firm David Nayar and Associates.

It is reasonable that (she) had perceived that the police did not believe her and that she had to admit to the allegations, in order for the investigations to be completed soon and for her to return to Indonesia early.
District Judge John Ng in acquitting domestic worker Nenti

‘NO DEFINITIVE PROOF’ FROM CCTV FOOTAGE

On Friday, the judge outlined details of the case and why he had acquitted Nenti.

Her employers, both civil servants, had hired her in late July 2019 to take care of their daughter and perform household chores. She was their first domestic worker.

The girl was four months old when her parents accused Nenti of abusing her in their flat along Punggol Drive in August 2019. This was shortly after she began working for them.

The girl’s father testified during the trial that his wife had told him about noticing scratch marks on their daughter’s legs. They ruled out anyone else but Nenti who would inflict the marks.

When Nenti was taken into police custody, the parents reviewed footage from CCTVs in their home and saw some clips of her handling the baby’s milk bottles in the kitchen. She was squeezing the teats while assembling the bottles.

The couple then discovered that two of the baby’s milk bottle teats had been “enlarged” and suspected that the openings had been cut.

However, District Judge Ng found that the possibility of the teats being damaged through wear and tear, rather than being cut, could not be ruled out.

An expert witness had conducted tests and came to that conclusion, having observed wear and tear on a used control teat.

“This was sufficient to raise reasonable doubt and give some credence to her claim that she had not intentionally caused damage to the two teats,” the judge told the court.

The CCTV footage of Nenti handling the teats provided “no definitive proof” that she committed the offences, and the girl’s parents had not complained about their daughter choking on milk until they saw the footage, District Judge Ng added.

As for the alleged scratching incident, the judge noted that Nenti first told police officers that she could have scratched the girl’s legs by accident by grabbing them on Aug 25, 2019.

The investigating officer later said that her CCTV footage did not show her grabbing the girl’s legs tightly. Nenti then said that she had scratched the girl’s legs on Aug 6 and gave a detailed account, apparently based on footage that same day.

However, similar footage recorded the following day showed that she could have apparently committed the offence then.

From this, District Judge Ng noted that the prosecution was not able to say what date Nenti actually scratched the girl’s legs, if it had happened.

In addition, the CCTV footage showed, at best, the possible opportunities Nenti could have had to do this. There was a moment on both Aug 6 and 7 that the girl’s mother had stepped out of the bathroom while supervising Nenti bathing the baby.

Nothing untoward happened in the video clips and “showed everything to be quite normal”, the judge said.

He added: “It is reasonable that (she) had perceived that the police did not believe her and that she had to admit to the allegations, in order for the investigations to be completed soon and for her to return to Indonesia early.

“I am satisfied that it is unsafe to find her guilty on any of the three charges based on the retracted confessions in light of the circumstances of the totality of evidence adduced at trial.”

Those convicted of voluntarily causing hurt can be jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

Those convicted of mischief can be jailed for up to a year or fined, or both.

Related topics

court crime baby infant scratch milk teat foreign domestic worker

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.