Maid admits to assaulting 90-year-old woman with dementia after feeling ‘very stressed’

SINGAPORE – Feeling “very stressed”, a maid took out her frustrations on a frail 90-year-old woman with dementia in her care.

Myanmar national Kyal Kyal Tun, 39, repeatedly assaulted the victim on Jan 3, including by choking and biting her.

The victim was later found with injuries including multiple broken ribs and bruises on her face and limbs, but a doctor could not state with certainty if the maid’s offences had caused them.

On April 29, Kyal Kyal Tun pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting the elderly woman, who had dementia and had to wear adult diapers.

Three counts of using criminal force on the victim and a fourth assault charge will be considered during the offender’s sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Caleb Looi told the court that at the time of the offences, the victim was living in a Housing Board flat with her 91-year-old husband, who had dementia as well and also had to wear adult diapers.

Kyal Kyal Tun was employed by the couple’s 32-year-old grandson, who was living elsewhere.

She started working in the flat in late 2024 and among her tasks was taking care of both senior citizens.

At around 9pm on Jan 3, the maid contacted the grandson’s father, telling him that the elderly man had fallen in the kitchen.

A CCTV camera in the flat captured the incident, the court heard.

Shortly after 10.20pm, the elderly man fell down in his bedroom but Kyal Kyal Tun left him on the floor for around 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the maid carried his wife and dropped her onto a sofa, then used her right hand to forcefully cover the elderly woman’s mouth while using her left hand to grab the victim’s hands.

The maid also pressed the elderly woman’s head against the sofa and shook her.

At 10.26pm, Kyal Kyal Tun grabbed the victim’s hands and used them to hit the elderly woman’s own face. The victim, who was crying, told the maid that she “could die”.

Ignoring her cries, Kyal Kyal Tun slapped the victim’s face, repeatedly shoved her head against the sofa and dragged her to the floor.

The victim asked the maid to help her up, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Shortly before 10.30pm, Kyal Kyal Tun grabbed the victim’s head and neck before lifting her up to a sitting position. The maid then pushed the woman along the floor over some distance.

The victim somehow managed to move herself into a bedroom where her husband was.

Around five minutes later, Kyal Kyal Tun dragged the woman out of the room and flung her onto the sofa again.

DPP Looi said: “When the victim was being dragged out... she was heard asking for help. After the accused threw the victim onto the sofa, she hit the victim’s face repeatedly and bit the victim’s right hand.

“The accused then choked the victim and slammed her against the sofa multiple times.”

Shortly before 10.45pm, Kyal Kyal Tun grabbed the victim’s hands and forcefully pushed them against the sofa.

The elderly woman again told the maid that she “could die”. The victim also gestured at her jaw and told her assailant that it had swelled up.

Court documents did not disclose what happened next, but the couple’s grandson later viewed the CCTV footage and saw the maid assaulting his grandmother from 10.22pm to 10.45pm on Jan 3.

He alerted the police on Jan 4 and the victim was taken to Singapore General Hospital.

Kyal Kyal Tun was arrested on Feb 17, and she appeared in court the next day. Court documents did not disclose why she was arrested more than a month after she assaulted the victim.

The prosecutor said: “The accused asserts that she was very stressed (at the time of the offences) and that she had taken out her frustrations on the victim.”

Kyal Kyal Tun’s mitigation and sentencing will take place in June.