Maid jailed 4 months for spraying insecticide into drinks of her employer's daughter

SINGAPORE - Unhappy with her employer's daughter for scolding her, a maid decided to spray insecticide into her beverages. But the daughter got suspicious after her bird's nest and soya bean milk tasted and smelled funny, and caused her to burp repeatedly. She kept samples and sent them to the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority, which confirmed the drinks were laced with chemicals.

On Friday, Anah Dewi Lanjarsih, 24, was sentenced to four months in jail for doing a rash act to endanger the life of Ms Ng Jia Min, 25.

The court heard that the Indonesian national had done the deed on Jan 3 as an "act of revenge" for various scoldings she had received from Ms Ng over her work. While alone in her employer's home in Serangoon around 6pm, Lanjarsih took a can of Baygon Protector Flying Insect Killer to the kitchen. She sprayed the pesticide into the container and carton which contained the drinks, knowing that only Ms Ng would consume them.

Pleading for leniency, her lawyer S. Balamurugan said Lanjarsih was deeply unhappy and wanted to change employer. She felt unfairly treated by Ms Ng and had acted without thinking about the consequences, he said.

Mr Balamurugan said scoldings would be given "unjustifiably" for the slightest of mistakes, and included accusations of being "lazy" and "untrustworthy". He also cited "demanding" requests that Ms Ng had made of Lanjarsih, including a call for the maid not to hang their clothes together, failing which she would be made to wash them again.

Lanjarsih could have been jailed up to six months and fined $2,500.

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