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SINGAPORE: In the year prior to the death of her employer, an Indonesian maid repeatedly stole approximately S $ 7,000 in cash and jewelry despite being caught from the start.
After the elderly victim died, her son called the police. The maid was sentenced to seven months in prison on Friday (May 8) for theft by a servant.
The court heard that Eti Maryati, 45, was hired in 2015 to care for the elderly woman, who was seventy at the time.
While working, Eti noticed that the victim kept jewelry and cash in a locked drawer and the drawer key under the pillow.
Around three years into his job, on October 9, 2018, Eti began stealing from the victim.
He took the key from under the pillow and opened the drawer, took out cash and jewelry, and got friends to pawn the precious items for money.
The victim’s son discovered the theft shortly after the first instance in October 2018, but decided to give him another chance.
He confronted Eti, and Eti assured him that she would not repeat the crime, so he did not report it to the police immediately.
However, Eti continued stealing. He did this for a year until October 6, 2019, the day the old woman died.
The last piece of jewelry left in the drawer was a gold bracelet, but Eti took this and arranged for it to be pawned.
On October 6, 2019, the old woman died at 76 years old. Her son checked his drawer and realized that Eti had taken the gold bracelet.
He called the police late that night and reported the matter, and Eti was arrested.
She made no refund for the items or cash, and the victim’s son spent S $ 6,030 in total to redeem the pawned items at the stores.
He failed to retrieve the gold bracelet, which Eti had pawned for S $ 680.
The prosecutor requested at least seven months in prison. Eti, who had no lawyer, wept at his mitigation and asked for mercy.
She said through an interpreter that she was the sole breadwinner in her family and that her husband had divorced her.
However, the prosecutor argued that the victim was elderly and had hired Eti precisely because of his old age.
Although Eti had been confronted once, she persisted in her conduct and made no restitution, the prosecutor said.
The judge said that the sentence requested by the prosecution was fair and imposed it.
For theft by a servant, Eti could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
