Woman convicted of abusing 2 maids at Sentosa Cove home

SINGAPORE: A woman has been convicted of abusing two of her domestic helpers at her Sentosa Cove home, after a trial spanning two years.

Tan Lee Hoon, 58, was found guilty on Friday (Dec 9) of seven charges of voluntarily causing hurt to two Filipinos: Ms Lizardo Joan Lozares, 35, and Ms Jenefer Vegafria Arangote, 41.

Tan was acquitted of an eighth charge of hitting Ms Lozares' torso with a stick.

Tan's husband, Mr Sim Guan Huat, employed Ms Lozares in October 2015 and Ms Arangote in August 2018 to work for the family at their home at 24 Paradise Island on Sentosa.

Tan pinched Ms Arangote's arm, stomach, chest and thigh. She also hit Ms Lozares' head with her hand and kicked her chest.

The abuse came to light in October 2018, when another helper told the Manpower Ministry that Ms Arangote was being beaten by her employer.

During the trial, Ms Arangote testified that she slept at 1pm or 2pm and woke up at 5pm or 6pm daily, over the three months she worked for Tan.

She said she inherited the arrangement from the helper before her, and that she and the other helpers had meals twice a day before sleeping. At times, they would skip the second meal if they were too busy.

Ms Arangote said her chores included cleaning the house, cooking, gardening and massaging Tan daily until the latter fell asleep. Ms Arangote said she would then work through the night.

She shared her chores with up to three other helpers, including fellow victim Ms Lozares. 

Ms Arangote testified that Tan pinched her during a massage in October 2018, before Tan went to bed. She said Tan was not happy with how she did the massage.

Ms Arangote said the pinches left blue marks on her shoulders, which she took a photo of. She also said Tan pinched her multiple other times for various reasons.

Tan will return to court for mitigation and sentencing in January.