Maid jailed for abusing elderly woman with dementia
Photo illustration of child abuse.
SINGAPORE: An Indonesian maid was jailed five months on Thursday (Jan 9) for abusing an elderly woman who has dementia, leaving her with bruises and bumps.
Just a month after starting work for the victim's family, 38-year-old Eis Atikah started physically abusing the 75-year-old victim, who is dependent on others for help with daily activities.
The court heard that Atikah - who shared a bedroom with the victim - would pinch and use her fist to hit the elderly woman's head when she did not go to sleep at night.
Between May 12 and Jun 12 last year, Atikah abused the victim on multiple occasions, and the woman did not retaliate or complain even though she felt pain, the court heard.
On Jun 12 last year, the victim's grandson was helping to clean the elderly woman when he noticed a bruise on the inside of her forearm.
He asked his grandmother about it, who replied that she had knocked on something the month before.
The grandson found it suspicious, as the elderly woman did not have bruises when he checked a week before.
The grandson continued tending to his grandmother, who then complained of pain as he combed her hair.
When he took a closer look at her head, he found a bump on the left side.
He took the victim to hospital and lodged a police report.
A medical report found multiple bruises on the woman, with injuries on her arms, knee and scalp likely due to blunt trauma.
The maid pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt, with enhanced punishment as the victim was a vulnerable adult.
The penalties for voluntarily causing hurt are a jail term of up to three months, a fine of up to S$2,500, or both.
As the victim was a vulnerable adult, Atikah could have been given up to one-and-a-half times' the maximum punishment.
