There are so many stories circulating the internet, of disregard for basic human rights, people suffering and abuse by authority. But the most recent reports of maid abuse in Singapore has left my heart aching for the victim.
According to staistics from the Ministry of Manpower, the number of substantiated maid abuse cases handled by the police dropped from 157 cases in 1997 to 68 last year. Now we need to find ways to eradicate this dirty little secret forever.
In the most recent and disgusting episode, 18-year-old mother of one, Nur Rizan Mohd Sazali was yesterday jailed for 26 months - 12 months for forcibly extracting the two teeth of, and another 14 months for pouring boiling wax on the maid. She has been dubbed by the press as "The Dentist".
The maid from Indonesia was accused of stealing from her employers. Although she kept protesting her innocence, 29-year old Ms Badingah was thought to be lying. This resulted in the ad-hoc dentistry, which saw her lose two of her front teeth, by the teenage mother wielding a pair of pliers.
Ms Badingah's employer, 25-year old Elsa Elyana Said, forcibly held the maid's head and forced her mouth open while the extraction took place.
Elsa pleaded guilty to punching the maid and assisting in the torture. She will be sentenced on Oct 16. She lived with Nur Rizan, as well as the teenager's mother and brother, in a flat in Jalan Minyak, off Chin Swee Road.
The series of abuse and torture that Ms Badingah endured at the hands of these four sadists, took place between June 2 and July 26 last year.
20-year old Muhammad Iz'aan was jailed for six weeks after having pleaded guilty to caning Ms Badingah. He is Nur Rizan's brother.
Muhammad Iz'aan caned the maid in a very bizarre torturous kind of punishment. She had been ordered to stand facing the door for a whole night with one leg off the ground and holding her ears. Every time that she dropped her leg, she was caned. The reason for this punishment is still unknown.
38-year old Maselly Abdul Aziz is the mother of the two convicted. She pleaded guilty, but had her pleae rejected, because she had initially claimed that all the accusations were lies.
According to public prosecutors, the abuse started just three months after Elsa 'borrowed' Ms Badingah from her mother's apartment to work in the Jalan Minyak household.
In another incident, the four accused had accused the maid of stealing their money and other small valuables. After Ms Badingah denied stealing their cellphones, Nur Rizan and her brother ordered her to take off her blouse. They then tied up her wrists with a bathrobe sash, and then Nur Rizan poured hot liquid wax from a candle over her back and head.
Ms Badingah, who had serious and extensive injuries, feared her abusers so much and for her life, that at one time, she actually jumped out of the kitchen window of the second-storey apartment and ran for her life.
Finally, the Defence lawyer said his clients were extremely remorseful for their actions. He said the case had brought immense shame to the family - well, doh... it's a little late for remorse now, isn't it??
According to staistics from the Ministry of Manpower, the number of substantiated maid abuse cases handled by the police dropped from 157 cases in 1997 to 68 last year. Now we need to find ways to eradicate this dirty little secret forever.
In the most recent and disgusting episode, 18-year-old mother of one, Nur Rizan Mohd Sazali was yesterday jailed for 26 months - 12 months for forcibly extracting the two teeth of, and another 14 months for pouring boiling wax on the maid. She has been dubbed by the press as "The Dentist".
The maid from Indonesia was accused of stealing from her employers. Although she kept protesting her innocence, 29-year old Ms Badingah was thought to be lying. This resulted in the ad-hoc dentistry, which saw her lose two of her front teeth, by the teenage mother wielding a pair of pliers.
Ms Badingah's employer, 25-year old Elsa Elyana Said, forcibly held the maid's head and forced her mouth open while the extraction took place.
Elsa pleaded guilty to punching the maid and assisting in the torture. She will be sentenced on Oct 16. She lived with Nur Rizan, as well as the teenager's mother and brother, in a flat in Jalan Minyak, off Chin Swee Road.
The series of abuse and torture that Ms Badingah endured at the hands of these four sadists, took place between June 2 and July 26 last year.
20-year old Muhammad Iz'aan was jailed for six weeks after having pleaded guilty to caning Ms Badingah. He is Nur Rizan's brother.
Muhammad Iz'aan caned the maid in a very bizarre torturous kind of punishment. She had been ordered to stand facing the door for a whole night with one leg off the ground and holding her ears. Every time that she dropped her leg, she was caned. The reason for this punishment is still unknown.
38-year old Maselly Abdul Aziz is the mother of the two convicted. She pleaded guilty, but had her pleae rejected, because she had initially claimed that all the accusations were lies.
According to public prosecutors, the abuse started just three months after Elsa 'borrowed' Ms Badingah from her mother's apartment to work in the Jalan Minyak household.
In another incident, the four accused had accused the maid of stealing their money and other small valuables. After Ms Badingah denied stealing their cellphones, Nur Rizan and her brother ordered her to take off her blouse. They then tied up her wrists with a bathrobe sash, and then Nur Rizan poured hot liquid wax from a candle over her back and head.
Ms Badingah, who had serious and extensive injuries, feared her abusers so much and for her life, that at one time, she actually jumped out of the kitchen window of the second-storey apartment and ran for her life.
Finally, the Defence lawyer said his clients were extremely remorseful for their actions. He said the case had brought immense shame to the family - well, doh... it's a little late for remorse now, isn't it??
10 comments:
welcome to singapore
Extremely remorseful? I hardly think so. They don't even look it.
They were just "sorry" they got caught. I wish there is a punishment where the assholes can be slapped in public and disgraced for all to see. Maybe we will have less of employers abusing maids.
and what do u do to those who abuse the babies. I repeat BABIES. 2-3months old babies. Go to you-tube, do a search. I pity the victims too, they'll probably be scarred for life. But i just wanna know.. We abuse them, we get jailed, what do they get if they abused our trust and kindness???
Hi anonymous,
Anyone who abuses a baby should be punished to the full extent of the law. If it was my baby, no doubt I would even want to take the law into my own hands.
However, in the spirit of this article and the incidents discussed, there is no child abuse. The torture was inflicted to punish the maid for unsubstantiated claims of theft. What this young lady endured is sickening to say the least. The abusers should be facing a much more stringent sentence than what was imposed.
There is also a much wider issue at play here, and that is why and how people actually invite strangers into their homes and place babies in their care in the first place. The concept of foreign workers being invited into a family to live and work in people's homes for pittance (just hundreds of dollars per month) is limited to just a few countries. Many other countries cannot believe that this actually occurs. Anyway, that is a subject for another article altogether.
To summarise, the offenders here are evil sadists and nothing in my eyes can free them from the guilt they have inflicted upon themselves. Their acts were akin to the kind of torture seen in the dark ages and MUST be removed from society.
Shame on you, Maselly, Nur Rizan, Muhammad Iz'aan and Elsa Elyana!!
It is shameful and disheartening that there are people who can actually treat another human being like this. I don't buy it at all when they say they are "extremely remorseful". To be able to carry out deeds of such cruelty they certainly weren't even seeing the maid as another human being.
I THINK THET SHOULD BE JAIL FOR LIFE
what pigs! tehy are the liars and thieves, no different from maids also what they deliver ur ,macs and u always find sth missing!
"38-year old Maselly Abdul Aziz is the mother of the two convicted. She pleaded guilty, but had her pleae rejected, because she had initially claimed that all the accusations were lies."
There is a SERIOUS LOOPHOLE in the judiciary system in Singapore. I see this woman everyday, she escaped scot free and NEVER went to jail for the maid abuse.
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