Singapore housewife fined for pimping

Singapore housewife fined for pimping

A housewife was fined for becoming a pimp for her Indonesian maid
who was initially hired to look after her three children, news
reports said on Tuesday.

The Min Yek, 35, broached the idea of prostitution with
Awunningsih, 24, one week after the maid started working, the
district court heard.

Awunningsih agreed with the proposal, and was soon servicing
clients in her employers home, said The Straits Times account of
what is believed to be the first case of an employer acting as a
maid's pimp in Singapore.

The Min Yek was fined S$15,000 (US$8,875) on Monday after
admitting that she had lived on the earnings of the prostitution
of another person, managed "a place of assignation", and procured
a woman.

She brought five men back to her home between April 21 and
early May, charging them between S$40 ($23) and S$200 ($118) to
have sex with the maid.

Anti-vice agents raided the flat on May 30 after receiving a
complaint.

The maid, now living at the Indonesian Embassy, is expected to
be repatriated soon.

Lawyer Patrick Tan urged Judge Victor Yeo not to jail The, who
sobbed loudly in court.

He said the maid often complained she owed her agent nearly
S$2,000 ($1,183) and The decided to help her "out of sheer
sympathy", Tan was quoted as saying. -- DPA