- A couple in Singapore admitted to letting their Filipina domestic helper starve
- The Filipina maid lost 20 kilograms due to the abusive treatment
- She was also allowed to shower only two times a week and her bathroom trips were monitored
A Singaporean husband and wife has been convicted to prison for violating labor laws after they left their Filipina maid to starve.
The man, identified as 47-year-old trader Lim Choon Hong and his wife of the same age, Chong Sui Foon, admitted that they did not provide enough food for their domestic helper during a 15-month period in their household; leaving their maid to drop her weight down to only 29 kilograms.
A district court in the Southeast Asian island nation found that the maid, 40-year-old Thelma Oyasan Gawidan, had lost more than 20 kilograms, shed hair, and stopped menstruating as a result of extreme starvation as she stayed in the couple’s posh condominium in the relatively affluent Orchard Road area.
During the trial, it was revealed that Gawidan was only allowed to have two meals a day consisting of a few slices of white bread and small portions of instant noodles.
A report earlier published by GMA News also noted that even when the Filipina maid joined the couple in their trip to Hong Kong, she was fed the exact combination of bread and noodles.
In addition, Gawidan was not allowed to access her own mobile phone nor was she permitted to go out on her own to purchase her own food.
The abusive treatment did not end there. Gawidan was refused permission to use bathroom within the residence and was only allowed to relieve herself or shower in the condominium’s poolside bathroom.
Her trips to the bathroom were strictly monitored by family members and she was only afforded two showers per week.
Gawidan eventually managed to escape and report her former employers to authorities.
According to the Straits Times, Both Lim and Chong admitted to violating the Employment of Foreign Manpower (Work Passes) Regulations 2012 that mandates that employers have to properly pay and provide the appropriate food and medical treatment for their domestic helpers.
Punishment for such violations range up to a one-year jail sentence and a fine of a maximum of SG$ 10,000 or US$ 7,000.
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