Another day, another court case of Singaporeans acting like brutal savages towards migrant domestic helpers. A husband-and-wife duo were dragged to court to yesterday to face trial for the alleged abuse of their maid from Myanmar.
Linda Seah Lei Sie, 38, faces six charges for the alleged abuse, while her husband, Lim Toon Leng, faces a charge for allegedly punching the domestic worker twice on her forehead, Channel NewsAsia reported. Both are contesting the charges.
Phyu Phyu Mar, a Myanmar national in her 20s, allegedly suffered at the hands of her former employers in 2016 and is expected to testify against them in April. Suspicions were first raised in Oct 14, 2016, when an employee and friend of Seah — who runs Lim’s Anew Me Beauty Aesthetic salon — noticed that the maid had a swollen left eye and a bruise around it.
Phyu Phyu then showed Lee Lee Yen, the now-former salon employee, an injury on her left shoulder — an injury that was apparently a hot water scalding mark, according to The New Paper. Lee also discreetly gave the maid some biscuits and a drink after hearing the latter complaining about having “no food to eat”, reported CNA.
Lee noted to the court that Phyu Phyu used to be “quite chatty” and “a bit chubby” when she was first brought to the salon in February 2016, where she performed odd jobs such as cleaning windows and dusting shelves. The domestic helper was said to have lost weight while working for the Lim family.
Afraid of losing her job, Lee lodged a police report directly instead of raising the matter with Seah that same day.
In court, other alleged abuses that transpired in the family’s Punggol Walk flat between August and October 2016 came to light:
- Seah is accused of grabbing Phyu Phyu by her hair, shaking her until her hair fell out
- Seah is accused of forcing her maid to pour scalding hot water over her own body
- Seah is accused of making the maid drink water mixed with floor cleaner
- Lim is accused of punching Phyu Phyu twice on her forehead on Oct 13, the day before the police report was lodged
The second tranche of the trial will be carried out in April, according to CNA. Seah and Lim could face up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of $7,500 for each charge.
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