SINGAPORE: Amy Low said her body started shaking when she first viewed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of her domestic helper dipping her 16-month-old daughter's hand into a hot pot on the stove in her kitchen.
The toddler has been having crying fits since the incident on Jan 14, her mother, who was still shaken, told TODAY on Wednesday.
The 40-year-old took to Facebook on Tuesday to chronicle her traumatic experience with her maid from Myanmar, whom she hired on Dec 7 last year. The post included the 46-second video, which has garnered close to 480,000 views and has been shared more than 4,100 times. It also includes photographs of scald burns on the toddler’s hand.
The police said a 30-year-old maid was arrested at Low’s flat in Block 992B Buangkok Link on Jan 15 after they were alerted to a case of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means. They added that investigations are ongoing.
Low, an accounts executive who also has an 8-year-old daughter, said her children have been badly affected by the incident. Her Facebook post stated that the pot was boiling, although it is not visible in the video.
“My daughter has been crying non-stop every night. Even when she is taking a nap, she’ll cry in her sleep. I think on top of feeling the pain in her hand, she’s been getting nightmares,” said Low, speaking to TODAY over the phone.
She added that the incident has also taken a toll on her eldest daughter, who keeps blaming herself for not taking care of her sister when, in fact, the 8-year-old was the one who alerted Low’s husband to the injuries the toddler had suffered.
Traumatised by the incident, Low has been on urgent leave from work, taking turns with her project engineer husband to take care of their children.
She said that she will not be employing another helper anytime soon. They plan to put their younger daughter in childcare in March and then call upon the help of Low's mother who lives in Malaysia.
“My (second) daughter is so affected that she is scared of strangers now. Even when our friends come to visit, she only wants us to hold her. I feel very sad that she had to go through it,” she said.
Low said after the call from her 8-year-old, the couple rushed the toddler to a nearby clinic but they were later directed to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s accident and emergency department after the clinic doctor said the burns were too serious.
She said that before viewing the video, she had asked the maid what happened. Her maid explained that she was cooking in the kitchen and carrying the toddler at the same time when the child touched the pot that was on the kitchen stove.
“We never blamed her for the incident and believed what she said because she seems like a quiet and hardworking person,” she added.
But she felt something was amiss when the maid packed all her belongings and insisted on being taken back to the agency the next morning.
That prompted Low to check the CCTV cameras that she had installed a year ago to keep an eye on her children.
“When I saw the video, I was so angry and disappointed that I started shaking. How on earth can someone do this to a child?” said Low, adding that she immediately lodged a police report.
“When I asked her why she did that to my daughter, she told me she did it so that she can go home.”
Low also claimed that the maid had alleged that an agent from the employment agency had told her she could go home if she committed the act.
She also wrote in the post: “During this period, the agent kept threatening and harassing me. He accused me of being a bad employer – that I abused the maid hence (she) wanted to leave, which I never did.”
Low said she had lodged another police report against the agent.
In response to TODAY’s queries, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that it is aware of Low’s social media post.
The ministry added that it is investigating the employment agency for a possible breach of the Employment Agencies Act.
Low said this was not the first time that the maid had requested to be sent home.
Two weeks before the incident, the maid had complained to Low about having stomach aches.
But when Low offered to send her to Sengkang General Hospital, she refused and asked to be sent home instead.
“Aside from that, she didn’t give me any problems and our relationship has been good,” she said.
Low said that she even trusted the maid enough to allow her eldest daughter to sleep with her.
“After this incident, I don’t think I can let another stranger into my house again,” she added. – Today Online
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