SINGAPORE: A Singaporean couple was on Monday jailed for abusing a Myanmar maid after the pair force-fed her with a funnel, made her eat her own vomit and threatened to kill her family if she reported the maltreatment.
In a case described by Singapore prosecutors as “arguably one of the worst of its kind” in the city-state, the married couple — who were sentenced two years ago over the abuse of another maid — beat and kicked their helper and made her clean the house in her underwear.
Moe Moe Than, 32, was also given little food, limited use of the toilet and faced threats that her parents in Myanmar would be killed if she reported the abuse, court documents showed.
District Judge Olivia Low on Monday sentenced the woman, Chia Yun Ling, to 47 months in prison and ordered her to pay a fine. Her husband, Tay Wee Kiat, a former information technology manager, was jailed for 24 months.
They were ordered to pay compensation to the maid.
Their mistreatment of Than during her employment of nearly a year in 2012 was detailed in more than 20 charges.
“In the present case, the accused persons had systematically and persistently abused Moe Moe Than both physically and psychologically throughout the period of her employment,” state prosecutors told the court.
One charge said Chia, a former senior sales manager, force-fed the maid a mixture of rice and sugar through a funnel after the helper told her she did not have enough food to eat.
This caused the victim to choke and she ran to the toilet to throw up, the charge said.
Chia followed, scolded and slapped the maid, and instructed her to throw up into a plastic bag “and thereafter (made) to eat her own vomit,” the charge added.
The same couple were in March 2017 sentenced to jail terms for abusing their Indonesian maid — the husband for two years and four months and the wife for two months. They have yet to serve those sentences.
Singapore has taken a tough stand against maid abuse to protect some 250,000 domestic workers from other parts of Asia who work in the affluent nation for higher salaries.
In February, a Singaporean salon manager and her husband were imprisoned for forcing their maid to pour hot water on herself, leaving her with burn marks and blisters.
Singaporean couple jailed for ‘worst of its kind’ maid abuse
Singaporean couple jailed for ‘worst of its kind’ maid abuse
- The married couple were sentenced two years ago over the abuse of another maid
- Singapore has taken a tough stand against maid abuse to protect some 250,000 domestic workers
Indonesia reaffirms Yemen’s territorial integrity, backs stability efforts amid tensions
- Statement comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a UAE weapons shipment at Yemeni port city
- Jakarta last week said it ‘appreciates’ Riyadh ‘working together’ with Yemen to restore stability
JAKARTA: Indonesia has called for respect for Yemen’s territorial integrity and commended efforts to maintain stability in the region, a day after Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment from the UAE at a Yemeni port city that Riyadh said was intended for separatist forces.
Saudi Arabia carried out a “limited airstrike” at Yemen’s port city of Al-Mukalla in the southern province of Hadramout on Tuesday, following the arrival of an Emirati shipment that came amid heightened tensions linked to advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “appreciates further efforts by concerned parties to maintain stability and security,” particularly in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara.
“Indonesia reaffirms the importance of peaceful settlement through an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue under the coordination of the United Nations and respecting Yemen’s legitimate government and territorial integrity,” Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The latest statement comes after Jakarta said last week that it “appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as other relevant countries, working together with Yemeni stakeholders to de-escalate tensions and restore stability.”
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE and was established in 2015 to combat the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen.
Riyadh has been calling on the STC, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels, to withdraw after it launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops last month, seeking an independent state in the south.
Indonesia has also urged for “all parties to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral action that could impact security conditions,” and has previously said that the rising tensions in Yemen could “further deteriorate the security situation and exacerbate the suffering” of the Yemeni people.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, maintains close ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are its main trade and investment partners in the Middle East.
