Abusive Couple Who Maimed Domestic Helper Jailed

There are stories of maids, or domestic helpers, in Singapore being a sister or auntie that employees think as part of the family.

On the other hand, maid abuse stories are also commonplace, and this story is one of the worst cases thus far. Prosecutors described the case as “indubitably one of the worst cases of maid abuse in Singapore’s recent history”.

Makes you question if maids are even seen as humans.

Indonesian maid hired in 2011, poor working conditions

Ms Khanifah is a mother of 2 in Indonesia. Now 39, she left to work in Singapore in 2011. She found work under her employers Zariah Mohd Ali, 58, and Mohamad Dahlan, 60.

She worked at Pasir Ris for 3 months and followed them to Woodlands when they moved. The couple also has 2 children.

She had normal maid duties, including looking after Zariah who suffered from a stroke.

After owed maid agency fee deductions from Ms Khanifah’s salary, only S$20 is left a month.

There are no off days, and she had no friends in Singapore. Only after working for 6 months, she was allowed to phone home once in June 2012, of which Zariah was beside her during the call.

S$20, no off days and no phone calls? I’m pretty sure prison inmates receive better welfare than this.

Too Many Occurrences

Zariah’s stroke only affects the left side of her body, so she could go to work, and use her right hand.

Zariah would scold Ms Khanifah frequently, and there would be physical abuse. There are too many occurrences for Ms Khanifah to remember specific details of her abuse, which took place from June 2012 to December 2012.

List of Abuse

The list of abuses by Zariah we know of, some of which will be contested by the couple’s lawyer on 14 Aug 2019:

• Using the blunt side of a hammer to strike Ms Khanifah’s back of the head for not properly cleaning the toilet. Her wound was untreated as she would be given only a sanitary pad to stop the bleeding.
• Strike Ms Khanifah in the mouth with a hammer while asking her to grin widely. The top row of her teeth and bottom lip were wounded, which were only cleaned with water.
• Hit Ms Khanifah’s ear with a bamboo pole more than twice for not cleaning quicker.
• Hit Ms Khanifah on the forehead more than 5 times using a stone pestle.
• Stabbed Ms Khanifah’s shoulders with a pair of 15 cm-long scissors. This happened more than 5 times and would create holes in her T-shirt. She was given a new T-shirt to wear when Dahlan (the husband) found out what happened from Ms Khanifah.
• Slashed Ms Khanifah with a chopper on the forearm while she was cleaning fish. A plaster was given to stop the bleeding, but she would need to use a plastic and tape to cover the wound.
• Pulled Ms Khanifah’s finger to the point she can no longer straighten her finger.
• Saying that Ms Khanifah’s oldest child had died, and threw away her diary which contained telephone numbers.

Holy shit! I’m pretty sure these are the things torturers do. Asking her to grin and then striking her mouth? Am I reading Batman?

Dahlan also hit Ms Khanifah on the head with a frying pan cover.

Hiding the abuse

Zariah and her daughter told Ms Khanifah to wear a long-sleeved sweater to hide the arm injuries, and Zariah said to wear a headscarf to hide the head injuries.

When visitors came, Zariah would tell her to stay in the kitchen toilet.

Ms Khanifah didn’t dare to call for help or even defend against the abuse for fear of being reported to the police and losing her job.

I don’t know about you guys, but I see Singapore as a civilised society where justice can be delivered, and I don’t know what information was fed to Ms Khanifah that she thought calling for help would result in her getting reported.

It is only when she was due for her next medical check-up in December 2012, that Ms Khanifah was suddenly sent back to Indonesia. She didn’t tell immigration officers of the abuse because she was happy just to escape.

Zariah gave Ms Khanifah a headscarf, long-sleeved shirt, trousers, and Zariah’s daughter put on make up for her in order to hide the injuries. Before she left, Zariah also took a group photo.

Wow. Imagine a torturer taking a selfie with the victim then posting on Instagram. That’s what this sounds like to me.

Criminal charges to the couple

It is only when Ms Khanifah returned to her village that her mother noticed the bruises, and her husband contacted the agent in Indonesia.

Nearly 7 years later, the couple would be found guilty and sentenced to jail on 1 Aug 2019.

Zariah was jailed 11 years and ordered to pay S$56,497 in compensation. Dahlan received 15 months of jail and an order to pay S$1,000 in compensation.

This isn’t the first time they abused a maid. Both of them were prosecuted in 2001 for abusing Madam Tutik Rahayu Purwadi, then in her 20s.

They rubbed sambal goreng on her eyes, hit her head with a mug, beat her and left injuries to her ears because she didn’t cook properly.

Zariah was sentenced to 10 weeks of jail and fined S$500, while Dahlan was jailed 12 weeks.

Yeah, totally no lessons learnt. But don’t take my word for it. District Judge Tan said “sadly, both persons have demonstrated no remorse” for their actions, even with the past offence.