Singaporean jailed for maid abuse

Singaporean jailed for maid abuse

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean woman who bit her Indonesian maid's breast until her nipple fell off was jailed for five years in what is believed to be the stiffest sentence handed down for maid abuse in the city state, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Jennicia Chow was found guilty of all 10 charges of abusing her maid over an eight-month period, the Today newspaper said.

Kusmirah Mujadi, 19, was also burnt by a hot metal rack, stabbed by a pair of scissors on her thighs and hit across her head with the back of a knife.

District Judge Wong Keen Oon rejected the argument that Chow, a 30-year-old hospital customer relations officer who suffered from severe depression, was unaware of her actions because her "violent disposition" was targeted only at the maid and not at colleagues or her family.

Some 140,000 foreign women work in Singapore as domestic help with the majority from the Philippines and Indonesia. --Reuters