Norhanita Sulaiman, 43, pleaded guilty, February 21, 2012, to criminal intimidation against her domestic worker from Indonesia. The employer had threatened Siti Musyarofah, 44, with a 12cm-long knife, and branded on her face with a hot iron. The abuses began in February 2010.
In June that year, unhappy that Siti reprimanded Norhanita’s three-year-old son for climbing onto a chair, the employer slapped her on her left ear. It bled profusely as the ear had been infected from a blow Norhanita inflicted with a ladle earlier that month.
On June 30, Siti sought help from a neighbour, and the police were called in. Upon a medical examination at Changi General Hospital, bruises were found on her forehead, cheek, arms and upper back; there was also a 2cm scar near her right jaw from the hot iron.
Norhanita will appear in court again next month for sentencing, reported the Straits Times on February 22, 2012.