RI maid alleges employer of abuse

RI maid alleges employer of abuse

SINGAPORE: An Indonesian maid told a court in Singapore that her employer pegged her eyebrows and hit her knees with a meat tenderiser to stop her from falling asleep, the Straits Times reported Thursday.

Toifah Paino testified in court Wednesday against her employer Tong Lai Chun for alleged abuse.

She said Tong would clip four clothes pegs on each of her eyebrows while she fed Tong's two children. "Each time I felt sleepy, ma'am would peg my eyebrows," she said.

The 25-year-old maid also said Tong hit her knees with a metal meat tenderiser at least three times last year when she appeared to be falling asleep while feeding the children.

Paino said she had also been kicked and had her head hit against the bathroom wall.

The death of Indonesian maid Muawanatul Chasanah in December from beatings by her employer has shocked Singaporeans and prompted calls for tougher measures to protect the domestics who play a key economic and social role in the affluent city-state.

There are some 140,000 foreign maids officially accredited in Singapore, including 55,000 Indonesians. -- AFP