SINGAPORE – A maid who was tasked with caring for an intellectually disabled woman was on July 9 jailed for hitting the woman with her fists and a cane.
Myanmar national Pa Pa Tun, 34, who was unrepresented in court, was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail after pleading guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to a vulnerable person.
The victim’s younger sister hired Pa Pa Tun in 2022 to care for the victim, 48, who is non-communicative and needs help with her daily activities.
The victim, accompanied by the maid, lives in her brother’s house with his wife and daughter on weekdays. On weekends, she goes to her sister’s.
On two occasions in May and June, the sister found bruises on the victim’s body and questioned the maid, who denied any knowledge or involvement.
On June 11, the victim’s sister-in-law viewed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the living room to check if the victim had taken a shower that morning.
It was then that the relative discovered that the maid had hit the victim on two occasions. On May 21, Pa Pa Tun hit the victim with a cane while helping her shower in a bathroom that was in the living room.
The maid also punched the victim in the head on the following day.
The victim’s sister lodged a police report after she saw the videos. When questioned by the police, Pa Pa Tun said she had hit the victim as she was stressed with having to care for the victim.
Seeking eight to 10 weeks’ jail, Deputy Public Prosecutor Joseph Gwee said a higher sentence was warranted from the starting point of four to six weeks’ jail, given that the victim was not able to tell others about the abuse.
He added that the maid had denied abusing the victim until she was confronted with CCTV evidence.
Pa Pa Tun pleaded for leniency in mitigation, saying she was remorseful and wished to apologise to the victim.
For each count of voluntarily causing hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to $5,000, or both. The maximum sentence can be doubled for offences against vulnerable victims.