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