Man gets more than a year’s jail time for abusing domestic worker who later tried to kill herself

• James Ong Teck Keong is jailed for abusing his domestic worker
• This included slapping her and splashing hot water on her
• Prosecutors said that Ong and his wife regarded the victim as a child that they could punish as they saw fit

SINGAPORE — The employer of a foreign domestic worker who tried to commit suicide after a year of his repeated abuse was jailed 10 months and 12 weeks on Thursday (Jan 7).

James Ong Teck Keong, 48, had slapped and threw a bottle at Ms San Pa Pa, as well as scalded her with hot water.

Unable to take the abuse, she tried to kill herself by jumping off the ninth floor of the block of flats where they lived.

She had to be restrained by Ong’s wife and another domestic worker living at the same block.  

In late November last year, a district court found Ong guilty of four counts of assaulting Ms San Pa Pa, who is from Myanmar, and one count of committing a rash act by throwing a filled water bottle at her.

The prosecution sought a jail term of 16 months, raising other “abusive conduct” by Ong and his wife beyond what was covered by his charges.  

The couple had locked the worker’s phone in a drawer and withheld her salary for a prolonged period, threatening to make unreasonable deductions from her salary.

They also regularly shouted at her until her cries could be heard from two floors below. 

Even though Ong did not face charges for these acts, Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) Andre Chong and Benedict Teong said in their submissions that these actions shed light on the psychological harm suffered by the victim.

Ong will start his jail term from Feb 18.

THE CASE

During the trial, the court heard that Ong and his wife employed Ms San Pa Pa in August 2014. She was 24 years old at the time.

Ong later began physically and verbally abusing her.

He was convicted of slapping her on three occasions — once in late 2015, twice in 2016 — and splashing hot water on her in late 2016.

He had been unhappy with her attitude or her work. He threw a water bottle at her in anger shortly after the second slapping incident.

As for the scalding incident, Ong was arguing with her at the time about the temperature of the water used to make his son’s milk.

He admitted to the court that the water “had just come off the boil” but insisted that he had accidentally splashed the water on her.

Ms San Pa Pa could not shower or sleep properly for two weeks from the burn wound on her waist. She also could not call her mother because Ong and his wife had taken away her mobile phone.

Soon, she approached a fellow domestic worker in the same block to use her phone. The other worker overheard her telling her mother on the phone about the abuse and saw the wound.

More than half a year later, following another lecture by Ong’s wife, Ms San Pa Pa tried to jump from the corridor of the block’s ninth floor. She was restrained and taken to the police station for investigations.

In her statements to the police about the abuse, she stressed that she did not wish to pursue the matter against Ong and that he was a good person who should be given a chance.

During the trial, Ong submitted a handwritten “contract” between him and Ms San Pa Pa, purportedly signed at an employment agency, where she had to agree to pay S$50 to watch television.

Ong’s wife confessed to writing the contract and that the deductions were meant to scare and punish Ms San Pa Pa.

The prosecution said: “It is clear from these admissions by the accused and wife that the tenor of their relationship with the victim was one of fear and exploitation. They regarded the victim as a kid or a child that they could punish as they saw fit.”

For causing hurt, Ong could have been jailed up to three years or fined up to S$7,500, or punished with both.

For committing a rash act by throwing his bottle at Ms San Pa Pa, Ong could have been jailed up to six months or fined up to S$2,500, or both

For using hot water to voluntarily cause hurt, Ong could have been jailed for up to 10.5 years or fined or caned, or any combination of the penalties.