KUALA LUMPUR: A housewife accused of abusing her maid maintained in a Sessions Court here that she retained the Indonesian helper despite detecting strange behaviour.
Yim Pek Ha, 40, said she considered Nirmala Bonat a “little girl” who could be taught.
“We did not expect a lot from her. Basically, her work was just cleaning,” the former boutique manager testified before judge Akhtar Tahir.
Questioned by DPP Raja Rozela Raja Toran, the mother of four agreed that she had kept her maid even after spotting her banging her head on a wall to relieve a headache.
“She (Nirmala) said she felt better after knocking her head on the wall,” she said.
Yim denied torturing Nirmala.
Asked if Nirmala was suffering from mental problems, Yim said she could not answer that. She said she guessed that Nirmala had inflicted the injuries herself.
Yim is charged with three counts of causing grievous hurt to Nirmala at the Villa Putra condominium here between January and April 2004. Yim faces another charge of voluntarily causing hurt to Nirmala, 24, at the same place on May 17, 2004.
Asked if it had crossed her mind that Nirmala could pose a danger to her and her family, she said it had not.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
