Woman who claimed 'voices' told her to abuse maid has jail term more than doubled to 7 years
A maid abuser had her prison sentence more than doubled to seven years after she appealed to the High Court to avoid jail time on grounds that she heard voices telling her to hurt the domestic worker.
Anita Damu, 57, was initially sentenced to two years and seven months' jail in 2018, after a district judge accepted two psychiatric reports that she had abused the victim under the influence of auditory hallucinations.
This explanation has since been rejected by the court.
In increasing her sentence on May 26, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said the sentences imposed by the lower court on each of the charges she faced were manifestly inadequate.
"Among other things, they were infected by the erroneous assumption that the acts of abuse were caused by the auditory hallucinations," he said.
Anita, who is also known as Shazana Abdullah, had inflicted serious physical and psychological abuse on her 29-year-old Indonesian helper between 2014 and 2015.
The abuse came to light in April 2015 after a Ministry of Manpower officer received information that the maid was being abused by her employer, and visited the flat.
The officer reported the matter to the police after observing that the helper had welts on her face, burn marks on her hands and scars on her body.
In September 2018, Anita pleaded guilty to five charges: one each for depriving the victim of rest, splashing her with hot water, burning her with an iron, poking her with a metal prong, and hitting her in the face with a slipper.
Four other charges - for slapping the victim, pinching her with pliers on two occasions and pushing a cup of hot water towards her mouth - were taken into consideration for sentencing.
During a sentencing hearing in October 2018, while her lawyer was arguing for her to be given a fine, she suddenly felt giddy and had to be taken to hospital.
In December that year, she was sentenced to two years and seven months' jail. She was also ordered to pay $8,000 in compensation to the victim.
Both she and the prosecution appealed against the sentence. The prosecution also appealed for a higher sum of compensation.
She has paid an additional $4,000 in voluntary compensation on top of the ordered sum.
When the appeal was first heard in 2019, Chief Justice Menon ruled that the psychiatric reports alone were not sufficient for the district judge to conclude that the woman was hearing voices when she abused the maid.
The Chief Justice sent the case back to the lower court to determine whether she had suffered from such a condition.
He said the offender should take the stand, as it was incumbent on her to present the best evidence available to support her assertion.
Before she could testify, Anita was diagnosed with schizophrenia. She was assessed to be of unsound mind and unable to understand and follow court proceedings.
Since June 2023, she has been confined at the Institute of Mental Health.
On Aug 5, 2024, she was certified to be of sound mind and capable of standing trial.
She and her family members eventually took the stand to testify before the district judge.
In a judgment dated April 2, the district judge concluded that she did not suffer from auditory hallucinations and that her claim was a "fabrication".
The appeal before Chief Justice Menon resumed on May 26.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh sought a jail term of four years and seven months, standing by the prosecution's submissions in 2019.
He also sought a further $9,588 in compensation.
Chief Justice Menon said the sentence sought by the prosecution was "manifestly insufficient", looking at the totality of the offending behaviour, the harm to the victim and the cruelty towards the victim.
He said he will explain his sentencing decision in a written judgment at a later date.
He also allowed the prosecution's appeal on the compensation order.
This means Anita has to pay a total of $21,588 to the maid.
Chief Justice Menon noted that while most foreign domestic workers are well-provided for, occasionally some do not adjust well or have employers who fail to care for them.
"At times, they even fail to accord them the basic dignity due to a fellow human being. Sadly, this is such a case," he said.
He added that it was a "matter of regret" that the case has taken this long to be resolved, in large part because of the litigation choices made by the accused.
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