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SINGAPORE – A domestic worker who wanted to work for another household deliberately dipped her employer’s 16-month-old baby’s hand into a pot of hot water after discovering she would have to incur costs for a move.
The 30-year-old Burmese national, who cannot be identified to protect the girl’s identity, was sentenced on Wednesday (October 28) to 14 months in jail after pleading guilty to one count of using a heated substance to voluntarily cause harm. .
The maid began working for the family on December 8 of last year.
Her work scope included cleaning and cooking, as well as taking care of the baby and her eight-year-old sister.
After two weeks, the maid decided that she wanted to work elsewhere because she did not know how to care for the baby.
He approached his agency, but when he found out that he had to pay for a transfer, he kept working for the family. The court documents did not indicate the costs involved.
The maid was cooking chicken curry on January 14 this year at the family flat in the Buangkok area when the baby started crying around 5:15 p.m.
She carried the baby in her arms and continued cooking.
Deputy Prosecutor Jane Lim said: “While the defendant was holding the victim, she became agitated and moved the victim’s left hand towards the pot containing hot water, which was on a stove that was on, causing the left hand to from the victim will come into contact with the pot and hot water two or three times, with the knowledge that it is likely to cause harm to the victim. “
A closed circuit television (CCTV) camera on the floor captured the maid committing the crime.
In the video, which was shown in court Wednesday, the baby could be heard screaming when her hand came into contact with the hot water.
The victim’s sister came out of a bathroom when she heard the cry, but the maid claimed that the baby had put her hand into the pot.
The older girl called her father, who advised her to apply some aloe vera and toothpaste to the burn. He returned home around 6.40pm and took the baby to a clinic after seeing the extent of her injuries.
The girl was then referred to the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed with second-degree burns to her left hand.
The Myanmar citizen initially lied to the girls’ parents when questioned, claiming that the baby had accidentally touched the pot on the stove.
But the father became suspicious the next day when the maid told him she wanted to stop working for the house.
He saw the CCTV clip with his spouse and saw the maid committing the crime.
When confronted with the video evidence, the maid eventually confessed that she had hurt the baby on purpose. The girls’ mother alerted the police around 11 a.m. on January 15.
The baby’s wounds healed completely on January 24.
The DPP added: “The victim will suffer a burn scar that will evolve and mature over two years and may still be visible thereafter. However, it is unlikely that the powers (or) functions of the fingers or forearm will be affected. of the victim “.
On Wednesday, DPP Lim pressed for at least 16 months in jail for the maid and told District Judge Ong Chin Rhu that the case involved “a very vulnerable victim.”
Defense attorney Lolita Andrew asked for a shorter jail term.
She told the court that the maid had worked seven days a week with no days off. Andrew also said that the baby’s wounds were not in a vulnerable part of his body.
Criminals convicted of causing harm with a hot substance can be jailed for up to seven years and fined or punished. The maid cannot be spanked for being a woman.
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