A 25-year-old man of Indian origin in Singapore has been sentenced to six months in jail for severely beating his domestic helper from Myanmar in 2020. Suriya Krishnan was also ordered to pay 8,500 Singapore dollars in compensation to the 27-year-old victim.
Krishnan pleaded guilty on Tuesday to causing hurt to his domestic worker, where the injury was not intended to be severe but turned out to be so. A second charge of kicking the maid’s head, shoulder, and thigh was taken into consideration, according to Channel News Asia.
The court heard that the victim, a Myanmar national, was employed by Suriya’s sister. Suriya lived in a flat in Hougang Housing Estate with his sister, parents, and the victim.
On the night of May 29, 2020, Suriya’s family was celebrating his father’s birthday in the apartment. Before the celebrations began, Suriya consumed a 750ml bottle of liquor and was intoxicated. At about 8:30 pm, Suriya’s mother instructed the victim to cut some jelly for Suriya. The victim went to the kitchen to do so but was followed by Suriya, who asked her to prepare some food for him.
The victim made a remark about Suriya eating a lot, which, along with her failure to cut the jelly as he wanted, upset Suriya. He scolded the victim, prompting his mother to intervene and scold him.
He left the kitchen but later returned and punched the maid’s face three times. One of the punches landed under her right eye, causing her to cover her face in pain and cower. Suriya was restrained by his family members.
The victim sought medical treatment and was found to have suffered fractures of her right orbital floor and lamina papyracea, around her eye socket. She also had bruising and bleeding, with pain in eye movement. The domestic worker was admitted to the hospital and later discharged for outpatient follow-up treatment, and the hospital filed a police report.
She stopped working for Suriya’s sister after the incident but was paid for the month of May 2020. The prosecutor asked for seven months’ jail, saying the case involved a vulnerable victim and that Suriya was voluntarily intoxicated at the time.
In addition, the prosecution sought a compensation order of 8,500 Singapore dollars, with 1,000 dollars for the victim’s loss of income and 7,500 dollars for her pain and suffering. Suriya’s lawyer asked for six months’ jail instead, stating that the maid had smirked when Suriya’s mother scolded him, which “provoked” him to punch her.
The lawyer said his client was unable to pay the compensation and would serve the jail term in default. The judge ordered Suriya to serve six months’ jail. If he cannot pay the 8,500 Singapore dollars in compensation, he will have to serve another one month in default, according to the Channel report.
