Couple in Singapore convicted for abusing Indian maid

A local court in Singapore has convicted a couple for physically abusing their Indian maid, causing injuries and scars on her body, for nearly two months she worked for them before running away fearing for her life.

Siddhartha Singh
Published on: 9 Jun 2020 12:35 PM GMT
Couple in Singapore convicted for abusing Indian maid
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Couple in Singapore convicted for abusing Indian maid

Singapore: A local court in Singapore has convicted a couple for physically abusing their Indian maid, causing injuries and scars on her body, for nearly two months she worked for them before running away fearing for her life.

Amandeep Kaur, 30, was employed by Mohammad Tasleem and his wife Farha Tehseen on a two-year contract for a salary of SGD 400 (USD 287) per month.

She worked for them for nearly two months from November 9 to December 31, 2016.

In her testimony, Kaur said that most of the atrocities on her were carried by Farha, 39, and she was abused and beaten up with items like a rolling pin, showerhead, broomstick and a pair of heated tongs.

She eventually escaped from the house on December 31, 2016 when the couple was away by climbing out onto a window ledge of their apartment and was then rescued by passersby.

Farha was convicted of 10 counts of voluntarily causing hurt to the maid, while Tasleem was found guilty of two similar charges for punching the victim on her face and waist, Channel News Asia reported on Tuesday.

District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan found that the victim was a credible witness, despite some inconsistencies in her evidence and that the prosecution had established its case.

The couple will return to court for mitigation and sentencing on August 21.

For each charge of voluntarily causing hurt, they can be jailed for up to two years, fined up to SGD 5,000 (USD 3,589) or both. As the victim was a maid, the penalties can be increased for up to one-and-a-half times.

The couple are permanent residents of Singapore but their nationality has not been in the report.

Mani Manoharan, an Indian national, brought Kaur down from the window.

She was then sent to the Good Shepherd Centre crisis shelter.

However, the couple denied the charges, claiming that the injuries on Kaur were explained by "her uneven skin tone" or marks sustained while she worked in the fields back in India, or by accident.

They claimed also that Kaur performed poorly in her work, was illiterate, lacked integrity and had a bad attitude. They claimed that they wanted to send her home, but Kaur apparently wanted to falsely implicate them for abuse so she could remain in Singapore.

(PTI)

Siddhartha Singh

Siddhartha Singh

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