Jail for woman who tried to cover her tracks after abusing maid

Housewife reformatted memory cards of CCTV cameras during visit by police

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

A housewife repeatedly tormented her Indonesian domestic helper in 2020 with acts such as kicking the woman, slapping her face until she staggered backwards, and yanking her hair.

Tan Siew Mei, 42, also verbally abused Ms Wahyati, 43, with vulgar language and on one occasion told her: "You are rubbish. You are not human. Remember, you are always rubbish."

Unable to tolerate any more abuse, Ms Wahyati, who goes by only one name, shouted for help from the service yard at Tan's condominium unit in Bedok Reservoir View. A neighbour who heard her cries alerted the police.

When officers arrived at the unit, one of them removed a memory card from a CCTV camera in the kitchen.

Tan then tried to cover her tracks by remotely reformatting the memory cards of five remaining cameras in the unit.

On Oct 11, the Malaysian, who is a Singapore permanent resident, was sentenced to six months and three weeks' jail and a fine of $4,000.

She had pleaded guilty to three counts of assault, as well as one count each of harassment and obstructing the course of justice. Seventeen other charges were considered during sentencing.

Court documents did not disclose when Ms Wahyati started working for Tan. However, Tan first abused Ms Wahyati some time during Chinese New Year in early 2020.