Maid jailed for repeatedly pinching 3-year-old girl, prompting mother to suspect pre-school

SINGAPORE: A 39-year-old maid who repeatedly pinched a three-year-old girl to give vent to her emotions was sentenced to 20 months’ jail on Monday (Jan 9).

The maid, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim’s identity, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of ill-treating a child in her care.

In sentencing, the judge said children are vulnerable victims who cannot protect themselves.

She said the Court of Appeal had made it clear to all parents and caregivers that violence against children cannot be tolerated and will be met with the full force of the law.

“In this case, the accused deliberately ill-treated the three-year-old victim in a sustained manner on several occasions when the victim was simply drinking her milk or trying to sleep,” said the judge.

Even after the victim’s mother noticed the bruises and asked the maid about it, the maid continued abusing the child.

According to court documents, the maid abused the child as she was agitated, annoyed and tired of working. In mitigation, she said she was under a lot of stress at the time due to her personal circumstances.

She is a single mother and left her two children in India with her mother to get a better life working in Singapore. However, her mother contracted COVID-19 while she was in Singapore and incurred medical bills with her deteriorating health.

The judge said that even if her explanation were to be accepted, there is no excuse for her venting her emotions on a defenceless child in her care.

The maid started working for the victim’s family in July 2020 and took care of the victim and the victim’s one-year-old brother.

The victim’s mother began noticing bruises on her daughter in mid-2021 and asked the maid about it, but she feigned ignorance.

The victim’s mother lodged a police report in January 2022 after seeing a bruise on her daughter’s back and suspecting the pre-school was behind it.

She realised it was the maid only when the latter appeared nervous, and she found out through closed-circuit television recordings which caught the maid in the act.

Video clips played in court showed the maid repeatedly pinching the girl, who was lying down trying to sleep or drinking milk.

At times, the girl cried out and screamed in pain or woke from her sleep.

After discovering the offences, the victim’s mother quit her job to look after her children and her husband became the sole breadwinner.

The maid cried in court after the sentence was given out.