Indian national jailed in Singapore for punching domestic help
Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 May, 2023 12:32 PM
Singapore, May 11 (IANS) A 37-year-old Indian national was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail on Thursday in Singapore for repeatedly punching and throwing vomitus at her domestic help's face, a media report said.
Monica Sharma pleaded guilty to one assault charge for abusing the 25 year-old victim, also an Indian national, who started working for the family in 2021, The Straits Times reported.
According to court documents, Sharma shouted at the victim, punched her face thrice, and hit her head with a toy as she was not pleased with how the latter was performing a cleaning task.
She also threw vomitus at the house help, the news report said, adding that Sharma's husband tried to stop the assault and apologised to the victim for his wife's behaviour.
Deputy Public Prosecutor R. Arvindren told the court that the domestic help suffered a swelling over her left eyebrow and a bruised nose.
The police showed up at Sharma's apartment after the victim clicked photos of her injuries and sent them to her agent in India, who then forwarded the pictures to some contacts in Singapore, The Straits Times reported.
The victim was taken to the Changi General Hospital by the officers for treatment of wounds, and was discharged soon after.
Thereafter, she stopped working for Sharma on April 11, 2021 and had a new employer about two months later.
Prosecutor Arvindren requested the court for at least five months' jail for Sharma, stressing that the abuse took place in the privacy of her home, making it difficult to detect.
"The accused not only targeted the victim's face, which is a vulnerable part of her body, but also used a toy to hit her. In addition, the accused threw (vomitus) at the face and head region of the victim which made the victim feel humiliated," Arvindren told the court.
Sharma's bail was set at S$10,000 on Thursday, and she will begin serving her sentence starting May 23.
She also compensated the victim for a loss of income of more than S$950.
According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial on Wednesday, Atlanta-based Minal Patel, 44, owned LabSolutions LLC -- a lab enrolled with Medicare that performed sophisticated genetic tests.
While 11 out of her 12 white colleagues were reappointed after their contracts ended, Sharma, hired as a senior lecturer in 2016, was not given her job back. The tribunal ruled that Sharma was the victim of subconscious discrimination and described the selection process as being "tainted by race discrimination"
Justice Sally Fitzgerald set a trial date down for five weeks in May 2024. Of the three, a 34-year-old man has been charged with Patel's murder, as well as aggravated robbery. The other two -- Henry Fred and Shane Henry Tane -- have been accused of robbery.
The FWO investigated after receiving a request for assistance from the Indian worker and issued compliance notice to Bhangu Pty Ltd. in September 2021. Thereafter, it secured a $30,000 penalty in court against the operator of the vehicle repair and maintenance business in Brisbane.
During raids at the couple's North London home twice in 2020, police found messages referring to 100 kg packages, cocaine parcels, evidence of drug exchanges, and a conversation about a possible gun deal. Cops also found drugs in a Louis Vuitton box under the couple's bed, as well as 27,000 pounds in cash at his home, apart from cannabis cultivation at the property.
She was a faculty member at Baylor University and worked primarily at Harris Health clinics. Vettical was born in Kuwait in 1970, and received her medical degree from the University of Texas. She specialised in Internal Medicine.
