A woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Mar 18) to forcing her maid to hit her own teeth with a meat pounder.
40-year-old Mun Sau Yeng repeatedly abused her foreign domestic helper over a period of about eight months, once telling her to punch herself 50 times to “remember the pain better”.
When Mun told the maid to strike herself with a meat pounder until one of her teeth “dropped”, Mun ended up using the pounder on her after her teeth remained intact.
Mun, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing hurt to Ms Yuni Dwi Lestari and a third charge of causing hurt to the 25-year-old Indonesian national by dangerous means.
Kalidass Murugaiyan, Mun’s lawyer, told the court that she suffered from major depressive disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder at the time, which “likely contributed significantly” to her impaired self-control.
Instances of abuse
According to a report by TODAY online, Mun began abusing Ms Yuni in June 2018 by hitting her shoulder once with a vacuum cleaner nozzle.
In November that year, because Ms Yuni ate a can of sardines Mun wanted her to eat for dinner instead, the latter became angry and punched the maid several times on her cheeks before telling her to punch herself about 50 times, as she would “remember the pain better” by doing so.
Similarly, on Feb 3 last year, Mun told Ms Yuni to clean some fingerprint marks off the kitchen windows. The next day, when she noticed that the marks were still there, she confronted Ms Yuni and shouted at her: “I want your teeth drop one (sic)!”
The helper pleaded for mercy, saying she would get her own parents to pay Mun so that her teeth would be spared. But Mun insisted that she wanted Ms Yuni’s teeth to break off or fall from her mouth. When Ms Yuni’s blows on herself were not hard enough, Mun got the helper to retrieve a meat pounder from the kitchen drawer before forcing her to hit her own teeth with it. The helper did this about 50 times and three of her teeth came loose.
Mun then took the meat pounder, pulled down the maid’s lower lip and struck her once. One of the maid’s teeth chipped off from the impact.
She did not take Ms Yuni to a doctor.
A few days later, on Feb 7 last year, Mun told Ms Yuni over the phone that if she found dust around the house after returning home, she would “know what will happen”.
When Mun got back home, she discovered some dust and punched Ms Yuni’s mouth about 10 times.
The helper’s lips began to bleed and her teeth started to loosen. Mun asked her to apply ointment to her injuries and did not take her to a doctor.
About a week later, Ms Yuni called the Centre for Domestic Employees, saying her employer had physically abused her. The police were subsequently notified.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Muhamad Imaduddien pointed out that there was no explanation as to how the mental disorders contributed to her impaired self-control and is seeking one year and three months’ jail for Mun.