Yahoo Finance Maid jailed 9 months for abusing one-year-old baby
SINGAPORE — A 42-year-old maid elbowed a baby in his face, causing the one-year-and-nine-months-old child to fall to the floor and cry, a court heard.
On another occasion, Indonesian Suliana Kasim Dapok pushed the victim’s head, causing him to fall to the floor. She also stepped on his leg.
At the State Courts on Monday (5 April), the perpetrator was jailed for nine months after she pleaded guilty to two charges of child abuse.
Elbowed baby in face
Suliana was employed by the victim's family in October 2018 and her duties included taking care of the baby and his three siblings.
On 8 May last year, at about 11.15am, the victim vomited on the carpet. As Suliana was cleaning the carpet, the baby walked towards her.
"As the accused did not want the victim to come into contact with the detergent, the accused elbowed the victim in his face, causing the victim to fall to the floor and cry," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Ben Mathias Tan.
She then continued cleaning the carpet before walking towards the kitchen.
"While walking towards the kitchen, the accused thought that the victim would grab her leg. To prevent him from doing so, and out of frustration arising from having to clean the victim’s vomit, the accused stepped on the victim’s right knee area, causing the victim to cry even louder and hold his right knee area," said the prosecutor.
Pushed baby's head
Shortly after, at about 11.30am, Suliana and the baby were in the living room of the flat. As she sat on the sofa folding laundry, the culprit motioned for the victim to come over and he complied.
"The accused then pushed the victim’s head, causing him to fall to the floor. The accused thereafter grabbed the victim’s leg to pull him towards her, and checked the victim’s diapers," said DPP Tan.
Thereafter, while getting up from the sofa to put away the folded clothes, Suliana stepped on the victim's right leg, causing him to cry, the prosecutor added.
He told the court that the culprit committed the crimes "because she was stressed and upset about her personal matters relating to her family in Indonesia".
Suliana's actions were caught on a CCTV camera placed in the living room. The victim's mother called the police to report the abuse at 1.12pm.
The baby was examined at at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital at about 2.30pm and found to have non-accidental bruising along the spine.
For her crimes, Suliana could have been jailed for up to eight years and fined up to $8,000 per charge.
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