Maid jailed for repeatedly kicking 8-year-old boy with intellectual disability and epilepsy
Photo illustration of child abuse. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
SINGAPORE: A domestic helper tasked to care for an eight-year-old boy with intellectual disability and other conditions such as epilepsy repeatedly abused him instead, kicking him and pushing his legs towards his face.
Her acts were caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV), after the boy's mother noticed that the maid would sing and pose in front of her phone instead of paying attention to the victim.
For one count of ill-treating a child in her care, Indonesian national Yuni Suvi Yanti Sitepu was sentenced on Wednesday (Aug 19) to six months' jail.
The court heard that Yuni had been working for the family for more than a month when the offences occurred in May last year.
Her duties included taking care of the victim, who has intellectual disability of at least moderate severity, global developmental delay, epilepsy and hypothyroidism, the prosecutor said.
On the morning of May 16 last year, the boy's mother used her phone to view CCTV footage from a camera in the living room of her home.
She noticed that Yuni was "engrossed in her mobile phone and was singing and posing in front of her mobile phone" and not paying attention to the boy, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Ong.
The mother became suspicious when she saw Yuni shoving the boy aside, and recorded the footage that followed.
She recorded six portions of live footage, ending at 11.45am after she saw that her husband had returned home from work.
The footage showed various acts of abuse against the boy. Yuni was shown kicking the boy with both her feet in a peddling or kicking motion, before kicking him "in a flurry" with both feet.
She was shown kicking the boy's face, causing him to fall back, before kicking him multiple times.
She then pushed his legs roughly towards his face while he was on his back, and continued kicking him.
The boy's mother reported the case to the police that night and took the victim to the hospital the next day.
He was found to have bruises on his cheek and thigh, with an abrasion on his upper back. However, these injuries were not attributed to Yuni's actions.
Yuni admitted to the acts captured on CCTV and admitted her intention to ill-treat the victim, saying that she had kicked and pushed him "in frustration".
The prosecutor asked for at least six months' jail, noting aggravating factors such as the number of acts and the fact that the boy was a vulnerable victim due to his age and his "mental infirmity".
The boy was "of low intelligence in this case", said the prosecutor, citing a previous judgment that said a "low average range of intelligence (in victims) is an aggravating factor".
While he said her guilty plea was a mitigating factor, no weight should be placed on this as she was caught red-handed.
Yuni, who cried during her mitigation, asked for a lighter sentence, saying she has lost her income to support her family.
The judge agreed with the prosecutor's submissions, saying that Yuni had assaulted the victim numerous times when he was vulnerable and required a helper and his parents to care for him.
For ill-treating a child in her care, Yuni could have been jailed for up to four years, fined up to S$4,000, or both.
