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