Katie 
Singapore: A 44-year-old domestic helper has been sentenced to nine weeks in jail yesterday, December 8, for the "disgusting act" of placing menstrual blood and urine into the food of the family that was employing her in 2019.
The maximum possible sentence she could have been given was a year in jail and fines.
An investigation into the matter began after the male employing her, an unnamed software engineer, received a text from an unknown number at 11:14 pm on December 15, 2019. That text informed him of the alleged actions carried out by his domestic helper.
The same message was sent to the man's wife, and it was soon thereafter that they identified the image associated with the account as being the woman's ex-boyfriend.
"He sent messages saying that she put menstrual blood and urine in the family's food. Then I was shocked, he sent a message to both me and my wife," the man said during the trial in August.
A complaint was then lodged at the police station and shortly thereafter, two officers arrived at the home to speak with the maid who was still living with the family.
She was terminated from her employment on December 16, 2019, but continued to live with the family until December 26, 2019 when the man took her to the police station for an interview. At that time she began living at the Philippines embassy in Singapore.
The man testified that, "At one point of time she mentioned that she did it... I heard she had done it, mixing these two things into our food, and she said 'sorry' many times to men and my wife."
The woman's attorney however, postulated that the reason she was apologizing so profusely was not an admission of guilt but rather, apologizing for the inconvenience being caused to the family.
There were however, conflicting statements from the woman herself who at one time alleged that her boyfriend had been the one responsible for instigating the act. She alleged that he had encouraged her to mix the urine and blood into their food and that it was fear of him, and a fear of losing financial support, that promoted her to lie to him and say she had done the act.
Investigators interviewed the ex-boyfriend in January 2020 while he was in a hospital with stage four cancer.
"He denied any involvement, it was just a conversation he had with the accused stating she did put her menstrual blood and urine into her employer's food," the officer reported.
The ex-boyfriend has since died.
The judge was not convinced by the statements alleging she had lied out of fear of an ex-boyfriend, or merely for causing an inconvenience to the family as she had made admissions to police as well.
The woman showed up to her sentencing with luggage and a backpack asserting that she wished to begin her sentence immediately.
The names of the victims were subjected to a gag order by District Judge Toh Han Li in order to protect from possible embarrassment due to the nature of the crime. The judge ruled that the gag order extended to the woman's identity therefore as well.
Contributor
You must log in to post a comment.