Singapore court jails woman for maltreating Filipina maid  

 

Authorities in Singapore arrested a 20-year-old woman for allegedly maltreating her Filipina maid.

 

The Filipino household service worker was identified as Miezel Cagas Limbaga, a report by the Press Trust of India and carried by the Philippine News Agency said.

 

The report said Limbaga's employer, Vidya Jayasankarr, was ordered by a Singapore court to pay the Filipina 4,800 Singaporean dollars in compensation after she was found to have committed one count of voluntarily causing hurt. 

 

She and her husband, Janardana Jayasankarr, 52, had been charged with hurting the Filipina, who had been working for them since October 2014.

 

Limbaga, 31 had no days off.

 

The couple earlier pleaded guilty to have hit Limbaga whenever they were unhappy with her.

 

The husband admitted to two counts of causing hurt to the maid while two other similar charges will be considered when he will be sentenced on February 19.

 

Court documents said that, on January 20 last year, the man grabbed Limbaga's T-shirt and dragged her to the master bedroom at night.

 

He was unhappy with her for opening the refrigerator and microwave earlier that day, and accused her of stealing food.

 

In the bedroom, the couple took turns to hit and scold Limbaga for all her previous wrongdoings.

 

The man slapped the maid on her face, punched her on her stomach and chest and his wife grabbed the helper's neck.

 

After scolding her for some time, the couple allowed her to return to her room. 

 

The man admitted to causing hurt to the maid on three other occasions in late November 2014 and in January 2015.

 

These beatings came to light when another Filipina saw bruises on Limbaga's face, chest and arms and reported what she saw to the police.

 

Policemen who were sent to rescue Limbaga took her to a hospital.

 

The couple had agreed to compensate the victim with 1,000 Singaporean dollars, according to their lawyer Rajan Nair.

 

But prosecutors argued that this was insufficient and asked for compensation of 4,800 Singaporean dollars for loss of earnings, as Limbaga had stopped working in January and was residing in the Philippine Embassy. — APG, GMA News