Indian domestic help admits to slapping, pinching toddler in S'pore

Singapore, Dec 16 An Indian domestic help in Singapore pleaded guilty to abusing by repeatedly slapping and pinching her employer's three-year-old daughter.

The 39-year-old, who could not be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim's identity, told investigators that she committed the offences as she "felt tired of working", The Straits Times reported.

The Indian national pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of ill-treating the child offences under Children and Young Persons Act.

"When the (mother) asked the accused about the bruises, the accused responded that she did not know how the victim had got the bruises and that she had not noticed them before," Deputy Public Prosecutor Alexandria Shamini Joseph was quoted as saying by the daily.

"Thinking that the victim might have got the bruises during her playtime, the (mother) did not pursue the matter further," Joseph informed the court.

The mother of the victim hired the domestic help in July 2020, and by mid-2021 she started noticing bruises on her daughter's cheeks.

In January this year, the mother spotted a bruise on her daughter's back and suspected that the child could have been abused at the pre-school.

After the school principal denied, she checked CCTV recordings of her home, which showed the worker repeatedly abusing her daughter.

The maid had pinched the girl's stomach while she was drinking milk. The CCTV footage showed the child screaming and crying.

Among many other acts of abuse, she also slapped the child and pressed on her face, apart from repeatedly pinching the toddler's chest and arms.

She also punched the child in the back, The Straits Times reported.

The child abuser told the police about what she had done after being confronted by the mother.

"The accused claimed that she committed the acts on the victim because she was agitated, annoyed and tired of working," the prosecutor informed the court.

"She did not raise any complaints about working for the complainant's family in her statement to the police."

The toddler was found with multiple bruises after she was taken to a children's hospital on January 15.

The domestic help is expected to be sentenced on January 9, 2023.