Mother of Kid Who Was Intentionally Burned by FDW Not Happy With FDW’s 14-Month Jail Sentence

Karma has a price.

And it’s not just 14-months long.

Or at least, that’s what this incensed mother is proclaiming after her ex-maid, who had intentionally dipped a baby’s hand into a boiling pot, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

For the record, the infant was just 16 months old at the time.

Dipped Four Times Into Boiling Hot Water 

The fateful incident allegedly occurred on 14 January 2020, 5.13pm, when the helper was alone at home with Amy’s two children – one of whom was just 16 months old.

At 5.20pm, her eight-year-old daughter called her husband and informed him that her youngest daughter had suffered a burn.

When questioned, the helper explained that it was an accident. And though the doctor at the A&E department was doubtful, the infant’s parents chose to believe the maid…

Until they checked the CCTV footage.

As it turns out, the burn was far from being an accident: her helper had forcibly dipped the infant’s hand into a boiling pot repeatedly.

The 30-year-old domestic helper was subsequently arrested on 15 January at her employer’s home at Block 992B Buangkok Link.

In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jane Lim requested for a jail sentence of at least 16 months for the grievous act.

“The use of a heated substance is an especially cruel way to inflict hurt,” Ms Lim said.

On the other hand, defense counsel Lolita Andrew claimed that the helper was “vulnerable” and had been working seven days a week.

During the period, she purportedly did not have a single day off, and was only permitted to call her family back home once.

She also lacked a phone of her own that could help her to vent her frustration.

During the process, Ms Andrew read out a written apology by the helper.

In it, the domestic worker expressed regret over the incident, and said that she “did not intend to harm the victim”.

She also claimed to have felt “terrible all this time”.

“Hopefully one day they will be able to forgive me,” she said.

When the apology was read out, the helper reportedly cried.

Mother of Kid Who Was Intentionally Burned by FDW Not Happy With FDW’s 14-Month Jail Sentence

And now, nine months on with a flurry of Covid-19 cases in between, the verdict has been given.

On Wednesday (28 October), the domestic worker was sentenced to 14 months’ jail for the appalling act.

And though a 14 months’ period is not insignificant by any means, the helper’s ex-employer has expressed her dissatisfaction (with the verdict) on social media, stating that the duration “is miserably short.”

She also asked the defense counsel, who had requested for an 8-month prison sentence for her client, to put herself in the parents’ shoes.

In the post, the ex-employer acknowledged the tears the helper had shed in seeming remorse. However, she could not turn a blind eye to her own daughter’s tears, which did not flow on just one occasion.

“How about my precious toddler who cried her lungs out each and every time she returns to clinic to change her dressing?” she asked. “Each time the dressing was pulled out along with her scab, our heart bleed along with her and we cried together with her.”

She also rectified some of the points defense counsel Lolita Andrew had made in her client’s defense.

For starters, the “no off day and mobile phone” clause was not stipulated by the family, but the agency.

The maid’s priority, in contrast to what was implied, was to take care of the toddler.

The helper made no mention of any pre-existing stress except for a stomachache in the second week of work. For the record, it was “magically” gone after she spoke to her agency.

It was the ex-employer’s elder child who had taken initiatives on both counts: informing the parents and advising the helper to run the toddler’s hand under cool running water.

The Facebook user also corrected a series of media-published “facts”.

For instance, the family does not actually cook curry chicken.

The toddler also did not dip her own hand in out of curiosity, and had not thrown a tantrum in the bedroom.

The helper was not averse to taking care of the toddler during the interview.

The elder child was, according to the ex-employer, independent enough to look after herself.

The toddler should also be the priority, and not the cooking.

To end off, the parent asked the defense counsel to put herself in the victims’ shoes.

“For the lawyer that pleaded for lighter sentences from the judge, and even suggested 8 months jail is more than sufficient?” she asked.

“May i ask how would you react if you put yourself in mine shoes? Or perhaps they have not has any child to feel the pain we underwent and still going through now?”

“What about my badly scarred & traumatised child?”

You can view the full Facebook post down below:

Maid-Related Abuse

Though cases of maids getting abused by their employers appear to be prevalent, the other end of the spectrum also proves rampant.

Earlier this year, a stressed-out domestic helper had vented her frustration on a one-month-old baby, by hitting his back three times.

She was imprisoned for nine months on 21 October.

In 2019, another domestic worker reportedly hit a boy, who was just 19 months old at the time, with a clothes hanger because the toddler could not stop crying.

The boy ended up suffering bruises on his body.

The helper was subsequently sentenced to six months’ jail.

And back in 2015, a maid had shot a rubber band at a 2-year-old toddler’s private part, before pinching her in the area.

She was sentenced to 30 months’ jail.