Parents of a newborn son were shocked to see through CCTV footage that their domestic helper was abusing their child.
The family also discovered hundreds of pills in their helper’s drawer, which the latter used to spike the three-month-old baby’s milk on multiple occasions.
Mr Lin told the Chinese language newspaper Shin Min Daily News that they hired the 27-year-old helper from Myanmar in Aug 2021.
She initially performed well at her job and had a good attitude.
However, Mr Lin saw through CCTV footage that the helper slapped their son on the head when he was crying.
Although they didn’t punish the woman for what happened, the employers reminded her of her responsibility to care for the infant.
Two months later, they witnessed the helper dragging the child by the arm across his crib.
The couple went through the CCTV footage once more this year after noticing their son stopped gaining weight.
They saw the helper opening a cabinet to retrieve a pill during their son’s feeding time.
The woman walked towards a blind spot of the camera before presumably spiking the milk with the pill and shaking the bottle.
“The blood test report came out fine, but he was much thinner than other children of the same age, and I was worried that his development would be affected,” said Mr Lin.
The parents informed the police when the incident happened on May 12.
Upon investigation, the helper admitted to putting Panadol in the milk, noting this was not the first time she had done so.
She also claimed to put an appetite-boosting pill from her country into the drink.
It was reported that Mrs Lin discovered hundreds of pills in the helper’s drawer, some dating as far back as August last year.
They initially assumed the Panadol and flu & cough medicine were for the woman when she felt unwell.
They never thought the pills would be used to spike their son’s milk.
The family has since hired a new helper, whom they will monitor more closely.
The case is currently under police investigation.
Responding to the incident, parents admitted they never felt comfortable leaving their young children with a domestic helper.
“I never trusted a maid to take care of my kids when they were small,” said Facebook user William Lim, followed by another parent who said the incident “was a reason why he didn’t want to have any maid looking after his kids.”
JereMe Lim, another netizen, noted that parents should really consider infant care. “I left both my kids at infant care when they were only four months, the experience was surprisingly pleasant, the teachers were great and my kids happy.”
“They could start socializing with other kids from a young age. Although also not 100 per cent they won’t be ill-treated, but at least it’s lower risk of getting abused,” the parent explained. /TISG