Domestic helper jailed for cruelly forcing a chilli padi into a child’s mouth and caning her

On Monday, December 10, an Indonesian domestic helper was given a six-month jail sentence for serious mistreatment of her seven-year-old charge. When the little girl misbehaved, the helper stuffed a chilli padi into her mouth, caned her on the shoulder and hit her on the head with a scratching board for cats.

Indonesian domestic helper Hamida was found guilty of inflicting cruel punishments on the little girl when her parents were not at home, as first reported by another media source.

Hamida, who is 33, had worked for the family for a solid seven years before the offence. Her employers had two little girls, aged nine and seven.

The court heard that the incident happened on July 29, 2018, when Hamida was at home alone with the two girls. Hamida became angry when the younger girl had urinated on herself and was too scared to speak when the helper asked her why her pants were wet. To add to Hamida’s already growing fury, the little girl had also refused to do her homework.

That’s when Hamida started cruelly punishing the little girl. Another media source reported that Hamid took a chilli padi that was about 1cm to 2cm in length and forced it into the victim’s mouth. According to the prosecution, this was classified as an act of cruelty, as Hamida was fully aware that the girl was afraid of and could not handle spicy food.

But the sadistic punishments did not stop there. Hamida then caned the girl on her shoulder and then took a wooden scratching board for cats weighing 1.3kg and hit the little girl on the side of her head.

When the girls’ mother returned home, the older sister reported Hamida’s cruel actions to her mother, who then immediately called the police. Hamida was arrested shortly.

On December 10, the court sentenced Hamida to six months in jail for cruelty and serious mistreatment of her (now former) charge.