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A woman in Singapore has been convicted of abusing her domestic helper, having — among other acts — forced the Indonesian national to strip and shower in front of her and on another occasion, kicking the helper in the crotch.

On July 8, Rosdiana Abdul Rahim, 33, was found guilty of six charges including insulting the helper's modesty, criminal force, causing hurt, and criminal intimidation, reported CNA.

She was also acquitted of one charge of pulling the helper's shirt and bra.

"Demeaning and perverse"

In court documents seen by Mothership, the Indonesian helper — now 21 — was described by the prosecution as having been subjected to "a series of demeaning and perverse" assaults that took place over the course of two months in 2017.

She had began working for Rosdiana's on Sep. 29, 2017 before having her employment terminated on Dec. 12, 2017; throughout her time with the abuser, the helper was neither paid nor given and off days.

This was the helper's first time working in Singapore.

Her responsibilities involved caring for Rosdiana's children and completing household chores.

She would also have to go to Rosdiana's mother's house daily with the children while her employers were working.

In her submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Angela Ang wrote that this arrangement resulted in the helper getting inadequate rest.

It saw her only returning home at odd house — between 11pm and 1am — and having to complete household chores before sleeping.

Even though her day began at 5 to 6am, the helper was not allowed to take naps.

She was also made to sleep on the floor, and was instructed to do so outside the common toilet.

Rosdiana did not supply the helper with a pillow or a blanket, and even threw away a batik cloth that the latter used as a blanket as it was "smelly".

Stripped and forced to shower as the abuser watched

The issue of the helper's supposed odour was later used by Rosdiana as an excuse for one of her abuses.

Refusing to believe that the helper had showered, the 33-year-old woman forced her employee to strip and shower in front of her.

The incident involved her dragging the helper into the toilet and spraying her down even while the helper was still clothed.

Thereafter she placed shampoo onto the victim's head and instructed the Indonesian national to remove her clothing.

At one point during the ordeal, the abuser's husband walked near the open toilet door and the helper — completely naked at this point — tried to cover herself.

This action prompted Rosdiana to remark to the victim that her husband "would not be interested".

After she had showered, Rosdiana further humiliated the helper by instructing her to dry herself, despite having had her towel thrown away because it was "smelly".

The prosecution wrote that the incident had caused the helper to feel that she had "lost her value".

On a separate occasion, after the Indonesian helper had placed baby powder on her face, Rosdiana commented that she looked ugly.

The abuser then proceeded to pour more baby powder on the victim's face and stopped her from removing it, threatening the helper.

She even made the helper leave the house with the powder on her face, causing a stinging sensation in the latter's eyes that lasted for about an hour.

Physical harm

Other incidents saw Rosdiana inflict physical harm on her employee.

Ang's submissions detailed how the abuse involved kicking the helper in her crotch region twice, and on another occasion pushing a sliding door into the victim's arm.

A day after the last incident involving the sliding door, Rosdiana and her husband dropped the helper off at her maid agency without any explanation.

At the agency, the helper told a worker there about the abuse she had received and was then taken to lodge a police report.

CNA reported that Rosdiana will return to court for mitigation and sentencing next month.

Top image from Getty Images