Maid who assaulted elderly man with dementia gets 7 weeks’ jail
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SINGAPORE – A domestic helper who assaulted an 88-year-old man with dementia and bruised his forearms initially told the victim’s daughter that he had hit a cupboard in a room.
Tasinih’s offence came to light when the daughter viewed footage from a CCTV camera and saw the Indonesian helper hitting the elderly victim.
The 31-year-old offender, who goes by only one name, pleaded guilty to an assault charge and was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail on March 11.
Court documents stated that she started working for the victim’s household around 2022.
Tasinih and the victim were in a Toh Yi Drive flat, near Jalan Jurong Kechil, and around 2am on Nov 23, 2024, the man could not fall asleep.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Xavier Tan said: “He also began to hallucinate, telling the accused, who was sleeping on a mattress next to his bed, that the ceiling fan was dropping and the cupboard was falling.
“He refused to sleep in the room. The accused got agitated and stood up. She tried to persuade the victim to stay in the room and ended up getting into an argument with the victim.”
Tasinih later hit the man on his forearms and slapped him in the face.
The next day, she told his daughter that he had “hit the cupboard in the room” and showed the woman the bruises on the victim’s forearms.
The daughter viewed the incriminating CCTV footage and lodged a police report on Nov 25, 2024.
Tasinih was charged in court in 2025.
Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
