Singapore jails Indonesian helper who repeatedly hit ‘helpless’ 85-year-old dementia patient

Indah was entrusted with the care of Leong as she had received training at her employment agency on caring for the elderly and young children.

On the evening of March 8, Yeong was caring for her mother when she noticed bruises on Leong’s left hand and confronted Indah about it.

The helper initially denied hitting the older woman but admitted it when Yeong told her that she was going to take her mother for a medical check-up.

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Yeong then told her to help apply ointment on Leong’s bruises and decided to review footage from the CCTV installed in the house, Assistant Public Prosecutor Lydia Goh said.

The footage recorded on March 6, which lasted about 11 minutes and was played in court, showed Indah rough handling Leong at mealtime.

The treatment included Indah roughly moving Leong’s head with both hands, shaking Leong multiple times and hitting her back twice.

Yeong also reviewed CCTV footage from March 7 that showed Indah pushing her mother’s forehead, which was the subject of the charge also taken into consideration.

After watching the footage, Yeong contacted her helper’s agent and sent him a copy, telling him that she no longer wished to employ Indah.

The agent came the next morning, March 9, to take Indah back to the agency. The helper was arrested on August 29.

During investigations, Indah admitted to hitting and pushing Leong after she was shown the CCTV footage.

At the time of the incident, Indah knew that Leong was a vulnerable person as she was unable to speak or protect herself from abuse, Goh said.

Indah also told police that she was treated well by her employer but did not provide any reason why she assaulted the victim.

Seeking 10 to 12 weeks’ jail for the offence, Goh said that Indah was entrusted with taking care of Leong but had abused that trust.

Goh added that the sentence given should appropriately reflect the aggravated nature of Indah’s actions and send a message to the public that such behaviour will not be tolerated.

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In sentencing, District Judge Prem Raj said that there was a clear breach of trust as Leong was a good 50 years older than Indah and was, as the prosecution stated, “helpless”.

The judge emphasised that just as the law comes down hard on those who abuse their helpers, the law must also come down hard on domestic helpers who abuse those they care for.

He added that he would have imposed a higher sentence if not for Indah’s early guilty plea.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Indah could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000 (US$3,700), or both, with the punishments doubling for causing hurt to a vulnerable person.