Couple jailed for maid abuse, including forcing victim to drink toilet bowl water

A husband-and-wife pair will be spending time behind bars after repeatedly abusing their maid.

Among the number of humiliating acts they subjected the maid to was drinking water from a toilet bowl and having a soiled nappy rubbed on her face.

On one occasion, Ms Sri Rahayu, 33, was hit with a metal ladle, which caused her to faint.

The Indonesian finally ran away from the Anchorvale Link flat in January 2018.

During a medical examination, she was found with injuries including a deformed left ear lobe. It is likely to be permanent.

She was also found to have mild to moderate hearing loss in the ear.

Her female employer, Ooi Wei Voen, 37, was on Monday given 20 months' jail after she pleaded guilty to four assault charges.

Her husband, Pang Chen Yong, also 37, pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and was given four months' jail.

The court heard that both offenders had worked as information technology engineers. At the time of the offences, they had a two-year-old son and a nine-month-old daughter.

Ooi, a Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia, employed Ms Sri on April 19, 2017. The couple starting abusing Ms Sri about three months into her employment when they felt that her work was unsatisfactory.

The court heard that when Pang, a Singaporean, got upset with Ms Sri, he would hit the maid's head and upper arms, causing bruising.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Qi Shuen said that on one occasion, Ooi was unhappy with Ms Sri after the maid failed to ensure the laundry was dry. As punishment, she ordered Ms Sri to wet her own clothes and sleep in them.

Some time between July and November 2017, Ooi rubbed a nappy filled with faeces on Ms Sri's face and forced her to drink water from a toilet bowl. Ooi also splashed hot water on the right side of Ms Sri's waist in October 2017 when her crying daughter refused to sleep.

The DPP said: "Some time between October and November 2017... Pang noticed that his baby was crying and blamed the victim for being late in preparing milk for his baby. Pang then grabbed, pulled and scratched the victim's ears, causing the victim's ears to become itchy and swollen. The victim's left ear also bled."

A few days later, Ooi accused Ms Sri of sneezing near her baby's milk bottle and forcefully slapped the helper's left ear, causing it to become more swollen and painful.

Some time before Christmas 2017, Ooi used a metal ladle to hit Ms Sri's thighs multiple times until the latter fainted. The maid had trouble walking for a few days after this incident.

At around 1am on Jan 1, 2018, Pang got upset with Ms Sri for failing to tell him that his daughter had a fever.

He then took a plastic scoop and splashed cold water on the helper. After that, he used it to repeatedly strike Ms Sri's head.

Ooi joined in the attack soon after and kicked her. The couple were attending to their daughter when Ms Sri ran out of the flat.

Ms Sri sought help from another Indonesian helper who happened to be passing by and she was taken to a police station.

Pang started serving his sentence on Monday.

Meanwhile, Ooi's bail has been set at $5,000 and she will be serving her sentence after Pang completes his as she has to take care of their two children.

She was ordered to surrender herself at the State Courts on Jan 3 next year to begin serving her sentence.