S'porean jailed for abusing RI maid

S'porean jailed for abusing RI maid

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean mother who admitted to caning her
Indonesian maid for mixing towels with other clothes in the
washing machine was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a
pattern of abusive behavior, a local newspaper reported on
Thursday.

An anonymous letter tipped off Singapore authorities to
Pauline Ang's repeated abuse of Liswiarti Kartono, 24, which
included poking her in the forehead until she bled, the Straits
Times newspaper said.

Wednesday's court decision was one of the heaviest sentences
for maid abuse passed down by the city-state's courts since 2001,
when Ng Hua Chye was jailed 18 1/2 years for killing his 19-year-
old Indonesian maid. He was found guilty of starving her, beating
her with a hammer and scalding her with hot water.

The paper said Ang -- who gave birth to her third child three
months ago -- repeatedly punished Kartono for her mistakes from
2002 until February last year.

"She was completely blind to the inhumane cruelty and
degrading abuse she was subjecting her vulnerable domestic helper
to," the paper quoted Magistrate Adriel Loh as saying. -- AP