Aircraft technician who abused maid jailed 4 months
For 16 months, the aircraft technician subjected his domestic helper to a sustained pattern of abuse, a district court heard.
Early into the Indonesian's employment, Yusni Yunos, 46, kicked her knee and then assaulted her eight more times, slapping her, knocking her head and hitting her with a fork.
Afraid for their safety, Ms Nenti Rusnianti, 27, and Ms Rani Nurhayati, 29, another helper who witnessed some of the abuse, climbed out the window of the first-storey flat to escape.
Pleading guilty to three counts of causing hurt to a domestic worker, Yusni was yesterday jailed for four months.
Six other similar charges were taken into consideration, and District Judge Sarah Tan also ordered Yusni to pay $1,500 in compensation to Ms Nenti by Jan 30.
Yusni, who works for SIA Engineering Company, hired Ms Nenti in January 2017 to do chores and take care of his three young children.
Court documents did not mention his marital status.
By the second month, he felt she was incompetent and often scolded her and called her stupid.
In April 2017, Yusni kicked her on her right knee when she walked past him as he sat on the floor of the living room. She shouted because of the pain and was left with a bruise on her knee.
She was abused twice more before it was decided in May 2018 that she would be sent back to Indonesia.
Ms Rani, the witness, was hired in June 2018 to replace her.
Sometime that month, during the Hari Raya period, Yusni was furious after Ms Nenti tried to clear his guest's plate twice during a meal.
After his guests left, Yusni sat on the living room sofa and made the two helpers sit on the carpet in front of him.
He scolded Ms Nenti, stood up and knocked the top of her head with his hand as he walked past. He came out of his room a few minutes later to apologise.
At midnight on Aug 26, 2018, Yusni went to the room where the helpers slept and scolded them for not telling him they were going to bed. They were usually required to do so.
Yusni told Ms Rani to sleep in the living room and continued to scold Ms Nenti. When she did not answer his questions, he pulled her left ear twice.
He then asked Ms Rani to return to the room, where he continued berating them.
At about 2am the next day, the pair fled in a cab to Ms Rani's maid agency, and the police were alerted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Derek Ee said Yusni's behaviour was calculated to reinforce his authority and to oppress and bully Ms Nenti into submission.
Yusni will start serving his sentence from Feb 20 and is out on $10,000 bail.
For each count of causing hurt to a domestic worker, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to $7,500, or both.
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