By Elena Chong
AN INDONESIAN maid testified on Tuesday that her employer abused her with more than 20 household items - including steel wool and toilet brush - during three months of virtual servitude.
Ms Susilawati Kusnata told a district court she was beaten for the smallest transgression, including once when she did not smile and her boss wiped her mouth with a toilet brush.
The 26-year-old took the stand for the third day during the trial of three members of a Pasir Ris family who are facing a total of 41 charges of abuse.
She described Loke Phooi Ling, whose husband and mother are also on trial, as her most frequent tormenter.
The maid, who is now under the care of the Indonesian embassy, said Loke, 37, often whacked her with a piece of wood, scissors and a water flask.
Ms Susilawati said Loke once accused her of not using enough elbow grease to clean glass. As punishment, she stamped on her feet and hit her with a piece of wood. Loke also once grabbed her head and wiped her mouth with a toilet brush.
'Ma'am said: 'This will assist you in smiling',' she said in Bahasa Indonesia through a court interpreter. 'Ma'am said when performing my job, I must smile.' But my body was always being hit.''
She also claimed that on other occasions, Looi rubbed her face with a sponge and ran steel wool across her lips. 'It was very painful, like burning sensation.''
The maid fled in July last year by climbing out of a fifth-floor window.
During the four months she worked for the family, she claims she was deprived food and forced to work long hours. She lost 15 kg during that time, and weighed just 38 kg when she left.
The case has been adjourned to Oct 7.
