| By Sujin Thomas | ||
 |  | Mazlinda Mohamed (left), 33, and her mother Zahara Zainal Abidin (far left), 57, were jailed six and four months respectively on Monday. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW |
A WOMAN and her mother who abused their Indonesian maid in their Pasir Ris flat last year were jailed six and four weeks respectively on Monday.
The pair, Mazlinda Mohamed, 33, and her mother Zahara Zainal Abidin, 57, looked back at their family members with tears in their eyes, when their sentences were passed. They asked District Judge Mr F G Remedios for permission to speak to them before being led away.
Their lawyer Soraya Ibrahim told The Straits Times that her clients have had 'no pattern of abuse' and committed the acts of abuse on 'a spur of the moment'.
According to court documents, 27-year-old Tita Julita was employed by Mazlinda's husband in late March last year. Six other people lived in the household and Tita was hired to do the daily chores.
However on June 13, Mazlinda, who was pregnant at the time, slapped the maid for not cleaning a bathroom sink properly. The next day, she kicked the maid twice on on her back while she was cleaning a bathroom sink.
About a month later, the abuse started again, this time by Mazlinda's mother, Zahara.
On July 24, Zahara scolded the maid for not clipping some curtains to a window grille. The maid went to a store room to get some plastic clothes pegs and returned, only to receive two slaps from Zahara. Zahara then took two plastic clothes pegs and clipped both the maid's ears and pulled her hair upwards. She later even used a slipper to hit her.
When Zahara walked away, the maid secretly left the flat and went to the Indonesian Embassy where she made a complaint.
A police report was made the following day.
