A husband and wife duo has been jailed after being convicted of repeatedly abusing their maid.
39-year-old Tay Wee Kiat was found guilty of a 12 charges and has been sentenced to 2 years 4 months jail, while his 41-year-old wife Chia Yun Ling was sentenced to 2 months jail after being convicted of 2 charges.
The court heard that the couple’s Indonesian maid, Fitriyah, was abused by them physically and emotionally between Dec 2010 and Dec 2012.
Tay a former regional IT manager, had on several occasions hit Fitriyah’s head with canes and bamboo sticks.
One time, he forced her to stand on a stool and hold another above her head, then shoved a plastic bottle in her mouth.
Fitriyah was made to stand in that position for 30 minutes.
In exchange for her not reporting the offences, Tay tried to bribe her by offering to pay her full salary and send her back to Indonesia.
He also ordered her to lie to the police, telling her to say that he did not abuse his former maid from Myanmar.
Tay’s wife, Chia, was also found to have slapped and punched Fitriyah on several occasions.
The couple’s abusive ways only came to light when their former Myanmar maid, Moe Moe Than, returned to Singapore to lodge a police report against them.
The Manpower Ministry has said that the couple will be punished and banned from hiring maids in the future.
The couple are now appealing their sentence.
