Maid jailed for ill-treating employer's son, 3

A maid, who found out that her husband was having an extramarital affair, took out her frustration on her employer's three-year-old son by raining blows on the child.

Filipina Mesias Richel Rizada tormented the boy by repeatedly slapping, pushing and hitting him in a Pasir Ris flat on Aug 22 last year.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage showed her assaulting the boy, and his father later alerted the police.

Rizada, 31, was on Friday sentenced to eight months' jail after pleading guilty to ill-treating the child.

He cannot be named as the court has imposed a gag order to protect his identity.

Rizada started working for the boy's family in December 2018 and the pair shared a bedroom on weekdays.

She later found out her spouse in the Philippines was having an affair.

Rizada also lost her patience with the boy and ill-treated him between 9pm and 10pm on Aug 22 last year.

Among other acts, she shoved his face down onto a bed and slapped the back of his head when he rested beside her. When the child crawled to the foot of the bed, she hit his back with her foot. Rizada then continued to assault the child until he cried.

Deputy Public Prosecutor M. Kayal Pillay said that the boy's grandmother, who was also in the flat at the time, decided to check the CCTV footage and saw the maid ill-treating her grandson. The grandmother then told the boy's parents what she had seen.

The DPP added: "After discovering the assault, the victim's parents were unsure of what to do. As such, they consulted their friends and maid agency, and (his father) later called the police on Aug 24, 2019.

"When confronted by the victim's parents, the accused initially claimed that she merely used her leg to try to stop the victim from falling off the bed."

Rizada came clean about her offences only later, the court heard.

The child was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital on Aug 24 last year and a medical report the following month stated that no obvious bruises were found on him.

For ill-treating the boy, Rizada could have been jailed for up to four years and fined up to $4,000.